


An Inadvertent Pygmalion

by fleurjaune



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (look it's nathalie), Alcohol, Boss/Employee Relationship, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Feelings Realization, Humor, I was going to say, Identity Porn, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Minor Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Moving On, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Kissing, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Self-Worth Issues, adrien comes by his obliviousness honestly tbh, but I feel it becomes more relevant this chapter so, but I'm not sure it's existential enough for that, if anyone needs that warning, just a smidgen though, questions of sentience, using "it" to refer to a sentimonster, why are these literal adults using a dependent child as their therapist tbh, yeah that's a given here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:46:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 111,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25841569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurjaune/pseuds/fleurjaune
Summary: Creating a sentimonster copy of Gabriel and sending it off on holiday with Nathalie and Adrien while Gabriel stays behind to akumatise various Parisians is a perfect plan. Gabriel gets a alibi, Nathalie gets time to recover from using the Peacock Miraculous, and Adrien gets that holiday he's always hinted about. Nothing can go wrong here.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 289
Kudos: 157





	1. Chapter 1

It’s strange turning the power of the brooch on Gabriel. She usually tries to shut him out when she’s wearing it. That sort of distraction is the last thing she needs.

There’s a deep uncertainty there, but that’s not what she needs to make the sentimonster they need.

Added to her own dubious feelings about this plan It makes her hesitate. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“We’ve already discussed this.” Irritation emanates from him, and then suddenly concern. “Is there a problem?”

“Maybe I should create it from my emotions.” It had worked for the Ladybug copy but she knows better than to bring up that episode given its disastrous end.

“We discussed that too.”

They had. It doesn’t really make a difference to what she can create, or the control she’ll have over it, so she’s not sure why Gabriel seems so convinced the sentimonster should be manifested from his emotions, but if there’s even the slightest chance it might add any verisimilitude to their mimicry then she supposes she should take it.

“Alright sir.”

“Nathalie.” Gabriel sighs. “I _am_ willing to listen if you have an actual reason to think this won’t work.”

“I don’t like the idea of leaving you in Paris alone.” She admits. “If you get into a fight with the heroes I won’t be able to get back in time to intervene. And won’t it look odd if Mayura doesn’t appear?”

“If you don’t take some time to recover then Mayura won’t be able to appear anyway.”

“That won’t be a problem.

He raises a sceptical eyebrow. “You look dead on your feet when you’re not transformed.”

What a lovely thing to hear. Clearly all the time she spends with concealer and foundation isn’t enough to hide the dark circles under her eyes and dullness of her skin after all, but it would have been polite of him to ignore it at least. It’s not like anyone expects _her_ to visually represent the brand. That’s Adrien’s job.

His emotions tug at her. _There’s_ something that might actually work for what they’re going for.

Unaware of her sharpened concentration Gabriel continues talking when she doesn’t answer, “Look, if I stay in the lair will that make you happy?”

It would actually but all she give him in response is a nod as she tries to focus on that emotion as it just swells slightly. She can work with a desire to protect. In fact it might be exactly what they need.

Gabriel starts as the telepathic connection is established.

She finds herself smiling as she makes the usual offer to him. “Hello, Gabriel Agreste, I am Mayura.”

He smiles back clearly amused by her play-acting.

* * *

There’s no reason to think their plan will fail and yet looking at the Sentimonster Gabriel can’t help but feel a sense of unease.

It stands silent and unmoving awaiting Nathalie’s command and seeing himself like that is almost as unsettling as seeing a copy of himself at all. It’s a completely different experience to looking in the mirror.

Perhaps it’s the lack of expression that makes the difference but he finds himself asking her, “Are you sure it’s a perfect copy?”

“The two of you look identical to me.” She reassures him.

Nathalie wouldn’t lie to him. Not about something as important as this. If she, the person who sees the most of him, thinks this is what he looks then it must be.

“Well then. I suppose I should wish the two of you a nice trip.” He says tamping down on the niggling feeling that something _is_ different between them. It’s not anything he can put his finger on, it’s not the hair, or the eyes, or the height. Each individual feature looks correct. Yet somehow the overall effect differs in a way his reflection doesn’t.

He doesn’t bother Nathalie with it again. That would sound accusatory, and that would be unfair to her.

Besides the suspicion he can’t quite shake sounds ridiculous enough his in head. He doesn’t want to ask out loud if somehow despite their shared features the Sentimonster is better looking than him.

It’s impossible when she’s just confirmed they’re identical. Poor Nathalie would probably think he was fishing for compliments or something and he doesn’t want to make things awkward for her.

* * *

For a moment she wishes he hadn’t accepted her reassurance that there’s no visual differences between the two of them. Claiming otherwise would be a lie. His discomfort had made her look back over the sentimonster too. After all they can’t afford for anything to give away that this isn’t actually Gabriel, but looking at the two of them next to each other the only difference she can see is in their expression. Perhaps Gabriel just isn’t used to seeing himself so inexpressive

Maybe if she'd lied he'd abandon the plan and come with them himself. Of course that would defeat the purpose of the entire trip when they’re supposed to be giving him an alibi while Hawkmoth attacks in Paris.

“Thank you sir.” She hesitates but pushes ahead, because maybe it’s not her place to say so but he did bring the idea up himself. “You will stay in the lair?”

“Yes, yes if it makes you feel better I won’t venture out. Shouldn’t you be headed down now anyway? You do have a train to make.” He dismisses her. 

Taking care her disappointment doesn't show on her face she heads to the lift. The sentimonster follows her. They’re going to have to fix that. Once they’re in there she tells it so; that he’s supposed to be Gabriel, and she follows him and not vice versa.

There isn’t room for all three of them in there, and Gabriel’s not supposed to be in the house anyway so he lingers behind them in the lair.

He must hear what she’s said to the sentimonster though because the last thing she sees of him is the flash of irritation on his face. He mustn’t enjoy the spectacle of her giving orders to him.

She’s not sure she enjoys it as much as she might have thought she would. It’s just weird.

* * *

As the elevator doors shut behind Nathalie and the sentimonster he almost wants to call them back. There’s no reason to do so. He just feels oddly empty watching them leave.

Nathalie’s in control of the sentimonster. He knows that. He’d given her a bracelet to put the amok in so there’s no chance of it being lost like in the debacle that ruined Nathalie’s quite extraordinary plan with the Ladybug sentimonster.

He hadn’t considered that it would still look like she’s looking after someone else the way she usually looks after him.

Which is no reason to put a stop to it. It’s ridiculous to be jealous of something that isn’t even human, that doesn’t even have a will of its own.

Nathalie’s doing what he’s asked her to do. It’s disrespectful to the loyalty she’s shown him to get annoyed at this.

She’s stayed with him through the revelation of magic, through Emilie’s deterioration, through Hawkmoth. She’d done more than stay with him. Without her he’d have been caught long ago. That is if he’d even been able to get out of bed after the despair of losing Emilie.

There’s no reason to imagine that she’d ever leave them to work for someone else.

He should look at raising her salary anyway.

* * *

Thankfully they manage to get to the car without Adrien finding anything amiss in his apparent father.

Perhaps this is the one upside of the distance that’s grown between they lost Emilie. Adrien probably doesn’t know Gabriel as he is now well enough to notice any difference.

Adrien’s so undemanding too, and so looking forward to them going away that it can’t be that hard to keep him happy enough that he doesn’t look at anything too hard. She can’t claim she’s any good with him but that much should be within her skillset.

He’d thrown a bit of a sulk when the plan had first been announced. Apparently he’d promised to help his friends with some sort of project, but Gabriel had stood firm-his friends couldn’t expect him to be around all of the school holidays and Adrien hadn’t asked permission in the first place.

For a while Nathalie had been concerned Adrien might try to run away and hide with one of said friends but thankfully he’d seemed to have gotten over it, and had steadily been getting more excited about the trip over the last few days.

* * *

Adrien is a concern, but he has every faith in Nathalie’s abilities that she’ll be able to keep Adrien safely in the dark about what’s happening.

What that fit of pique about leaving Paris was about he has no idea. He doesn’t know why he’d complain about never going on holiday and then complain about going on one. It’s most out of character for him. He doesn’t know if he gets it from him or Emelie, or perhaps even via nurture from Nathalie, but usually Adrien is quite tenacious when he gets an idea in his head.

Unsurprisingly school seems to give him more ideas Gabriel would rather he not have. If only Adrien could just understand he wants him safe. On balance though Nathalie probably is right. School is the best place for Adrien.

He can’t deny he’s glad that this will be one week of school holidays where none of his classmates will turn up at the house unannounced though.

* * *

As they settle in on the train she thinks that it's lucky that it’s nothing out of the ordinary for her watch Gabriel. Hopefully anyone that sees them will just write it off as her trying to anticipate her notoriously difficult boss' demands in public instead of realising she’s watching a magical creation worried it won’t perfectly imitate him. Not that anyone would guess _that_ but she doesn’t want any other explanations for why she’s always watching him floating about.

Fortunately his reputation should be to their benefit. Not that Gabriel _is_ that difficult to deal with really. Or, well, he is _now_ but none of that is to do with their actual work. He’s has his quirks but honestly some of what people find most ridiculous-like his tendency to attend by tablet, doesn’t make her life any more difficult, and in some ways actually makes it easier. Much less security to worry about with the tablet. No food or accommodation demands either.

She doesn’t know what the Sentimonster will ask of her. On the one hand, he's supposed to be Gabriel and based off her failure with Ladybug that means he _should_ act like Gabriel. On the other hand, _she’s_ the one holding the amokatised object. Does that mean it'll hesitate to give her orders?

Her wrist itches where the object touches it and she finds herself fiddling with the simple chain bracelet. It’s all in her mind she knows. There no Miraculous reason for it to react against her skin, and the bracelet itself is white gold according to Gabriel so she shouldn't be reacting to that.

The idea of her having command over Gabriel is unsettling. If you’d asked her that before she’d have thought it might be fun. After all how many times has she _wished_ she could convince him to do or not do things. Turns out there’s a difference between having a Gabriel that listens to her, and one that's magically compelled to do what she wants.

Of course this isn’t Gabriel. She needs to remember that. This is just a facsimile made solid and active by magic. Like a robot of sorts. It's cleverly done, it won’t rely on her to make each decision or tell it how to act, but unless she's stupid enough to let it take the bracelet off her wrist it doesn’t have any thoughts and desires of its own.

It’s hard to remember that. He's, _it’s,_ looking out the train window and she has to stop herself wondering what he’s thinking about. The answer is nothing. The Sentimonster is just looking out the window because Gabriel would in the same circumstances, shutting out the rest of the carriage.

She pulls her eyes away. Everything should be fine. There’s no reason they should have to interact with anyone on the train, and if they do, well there’s a reason she and Adrien's bodyguard have the aisle seats.

When she looks straight forward he raises an eyebrow and she shakes her head reassuring him she's fine. Hopefully he’ll write off her nerves as anxiety over the first Agreste family holiday. Well. Working holiday, but Adrien only has the one photoshoot so that still makes it the closest thing to an actual holiday they’ve had even when Emilie was here.

Except it’s not really a family holiday because Adrien's the only member of the family on it.

As if he’s sensed that she’s thinking about him Adrien looks out from the tablet he’s playing a game on, and meets her eyes smiling nervously, the excitement radiating off him.

It only makes her feel worse. She doesn’t like deceiving him, and yet here she is masquerading a creature made of magic as his father, and playing at happy families on holiday with it. Interactions between the two are going to be unavoidable. Letting Adrien have time with his father was part of Gabriel’s idea for all of this, and it had seemed so logical at the time when he was explaining this to her, but now she just doesn’t like the idea of trusting this with Adrien.

Maybe it’s herself she doesn’t trust. She’s not Adrien’s mother, or even anything more than his father’s assistant. What right does she have to try to create a parent for him?

And who would trust Mayura with a teenager?

She squashes those concerns down and gets out her Kindle to distract herself. This is exactly why she doesn’t like sitting around doing nothing, it gives all those errant criticisms time rise to the top of her mind.

This holiday is going to be the best holiday she can make it for Adrien, regardless of how awkward that might make things for her.

* * *

He doesn’t envy them the train journey.

Last time he’d taken the Startrain he’d been glad for the chance to vent some of his irritation and akumatise someone.

Why some people seem to completely forget the concept of personal space when they’re stuck in the tin can with other people he will never understand.

Nathalie had seemed unbothered by the idea when they’d discussed it though, and she’d seemed to think Adrien would be fine with it, so they’d decided it was a good and public way to get down to the coast. They could have flown but the last thing the brand needed was bad press from the green lobby about taking unnecessary domestic flights.

They should be far enough away that they’ll be safe if he releases an akuma.

Nothing’s calling out to him though.

He decides to head downstairs instead. The rest of the staff should have left the house by now so it’s safe to do so.

The peace and quiet should make it easy to get some of his _actual_ work done. Even if it’s just to have it ready for when he’s “back” from his fake holiday. Though no one will be surprised if he _does_ send some things out. He hadn’t got to where he is in the fashion world by indulging in rest.

* * *

The book isn’t working as a distraction.

Whether it’s her anxiety about all or this, or just the constant exhaustion that’s the leftover effect of using the Peacock Miraculous she just can’t focus on it.

She hasn’t read much recently. She’s always so tired after getting home from work, and after a day looking at screens, looking at another one seems like the last thing she wants to do.

So it’s hard to remember if she’s idealising things but she’s sure she never used to have to keep re-reading sentences to get them to permeate her brain like this.

The rocking of the train is soothing, and if she was sat by the window she thinks just watching the countryside speed by might be the level of stimulation she’s able for. From where she’s sat though that means leaning forward and looking across Gabriel, or past the stranger across the aisle, or coming far too close to looking Adrien in the eye again.

She lets her eyes shut. Probably she shouldn’t sleep without giving the sentimonster advance commands of what to do first, but maybe if she just rests them for a bit she’ll be better able to focus on her book after.

* * *

It’s harder to concentrate than he expects.

Usually he gets lost in his own world when designing. Now he keeps noticing Nathalie’s absence.

He’s not sure why. He works in the Atelier without her there all the time on the weekends, and when she’s out running errands for him.

It must be that he’s unable to check in with her the way he usually would when she’s out in the world for him. He can hardly video call Nathalie when she’s sat on a train, or in a hotel, with “him.”

Not that he doesn’t trust her. He’s just used to her keeping him updated, and now she’s not.

No news is good news he supposes, but he wishes he’d ask her to keep him constantly in the loop via text.

He can ask later once she’s settled in.

* * *

She comes to with a start, when someone shakes her shoulder.

“Nathalie?” Adrien's voice broke through her initial panic, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. We’re going to the bar to get food, do you want anything?”

“Just coffee. I brought some lunch with me.”

Adrien and his bodyguard head down the carriage leaving her alone to deal with the crick in her neck. Her head must have fallen sideways while she was asleep, and while generally she doesn’t like the idea of someone touching her while she’s unaware, she thinks she could have made an exception here if one of them had thought to push her head back up.

Her leg brushes against Gabriel’s as she tries to re-adjust and suddenly she remembers what she’s supposed to be doing and finally checks on the Sentimonster but thankfully it seems to be dozing too. That’s a safer outcome than she had any right to expect.

If he sleeps when she sleeps then that’s going to make things much easier at least.

Just how long was she asleep anyway? 

She gets her time out to check the time but she’s distracted by a notification of a message from _Adrien._

'And you tell me I need to sleep more' is all the preview tells her.

That’s uncharacteristically cheeky of him. Thank goodness Gabriel isn’t here to reprimand him.

She clicks on it to see the rest of the message and it’s worse than she could have ever expected.

Not only has Adrien also attached a photo, but he’s sent it to the groupchat he’s in with her and his father not just to her, and the photo isn’t just of her either.

Instead it’s her and the Gabriel Sentimonster. Both of them asleep. She’s leaning into him with her head on his shoulder, and his head is resting down over hers.

Adrien has sent this to the _actual_ Gabriel. He’s going to see it, _has_ seen it if the blue tick marks are any indication. Right now the decision to let Gabriel keep his own phone and forward messages or transfer calls to the one in the sentimonster’s pocket feels like a mistake. She’d wanted to be in contact for any emergency, and she knew he’d want to know what they were up to too, and rationally those reasons still apply, but that doesn’t make her feel any better about it.

The two of them look cosy, and domestic, and Gabriel’s probably going to be infuriated with her for her presumption.

He might even think she’s taking advantage of the situation though thank god, he’s still too in love with Emilie to even consider there might be any romantic feelings on her part, so at least he won’t interpret it in that sense. At worst he'll will just think she’s forgetting her position on the power rush of her giving him commands.

He hasn’t responded. She’s not sure if that’s because he’s leaving it to her to make his copy react to Adrien, or because he just thinks it beneath his dignity to respond.

She goes into her private conversation with him and sends a frantic apology.

Adrien's back before he replies and she takes the coffee from him gratefully. She's _definitely_ not sleeping the rest of the train journey now.

She panics when the message notification goes and has to compose herself before she’s brave enough to look.

‘I knew u were exhausted’ it says.

What she’s supposed to do with that she has no idea. It doesn’t _sound_ like he’s that cross, or at least no more bothered than he usually is when he tries to get her to rest and she doesn’t. If only she could see his face it would be so much easier to know.

It buzzes again.

‘It’s fine.’

That’s reassuring, but it’s odd he hasn’t said to say anything to Adrien. Normally she would have expected _some_ response.

 _She_ wants to say something to Adrien. Despite the embarrassment she doesn’t care that much about what he puts on his Instagram. Apparently the “human”, “unfiltered”, approach looks good on there or so marketing tells her. That doesn’t mean she’s happy for _this_ sort of thing to go on there.

Adrien must be too smart to do that though. He _must_ be.

If she says something, and Gabriel doesn’t, it will look odd though and Adrien thinks Gabriel’s sitting right _here._

Her hand moves to her bracelet _._

Next to her the sentimonster stirs and pulls out his phone to look at it. She can’t help but think it still looks too expressionless. Gabriel doesn’t emote a lot until the extremes but this duplicate seems to miss his micro-expressions.

Then it blinks.

“Don’t embarrass Nathalie Adrien.” He says. “She works too hard for us for you to make fun of her exhaustion.”

That wasn’t exactly what she was going for but she’ll take it.

Adrien looks at her as if seeking her reaction, and goes “I didn’t mean it like that! I just thought it was a cute moment.”

“Adrien.” His father’s facsimile says, a warning tone in his voice.

“I’m sorry Nathalie.” Adrien says.

It’s remarkable how he somehow manages to be completely genuine in his apology to her, and yet still radiate his disgruntlement with his father.

Well, if this is Adrien’s teenage moodiness coming in it seems like they’re going to lucky.

Besides the best thing is that Gabriel will have no idea about it at all.

* * *

The photo lies open on his phone mocking him.

He’d _known_ Nathalie was wearing herself down to the bone. She’d napped in the Atelier it’s true, but that’s different to falling asleep clearly undeliberately in public like this.

He wishes she didn’t feel such a need to hide it from him. She’s not _weak._ She’s the strongest person he knows. He wants her to know that. To know that her health is more important than the work she does for him.

Instead she’s sent him a panicked apology, as if he’s going to berate her for lacking professionalism when all he wants her to do is calm down and rest.

In retrospect perhaps his first text only got part of that across. He sends her another to reassure her.

It was clever of her to ensure the Sentimonster slept too. It should function on it's own without direct commands from her for it's every movement, but the longer they can put off it being with Adrien alone the better.

Pity that it hadn’t better supported Nathalie when she was sleeping though. That can’t have been the best position for her neck. If he'd been the one on that train he'd have found a better way to hold her.

It’s not the first time he’s thought that, but usually it’s a chair or a desk that’s the focus of his displeasure. It feels wrong to manhandle Nathalie while she’s asleep though, when she’s trusting him, even if he does want to do it for her own good.

Maybe though _this_ means she wouldn’t find it to be taking advantage. Maybe she wouldn’t mind more. Maybe she wouldn’t have pushed him away if he’d held her in his arms the way he wanted to after she became Mayura.

Or maybe she’s just able to let herself sleep against the Sentimonster because it’s just a magical automaton not a person. Maybe trying to offer her comfort the way she offers it to him would just make her uncomfortable.

* * *

Thankfully the rest of the journey has less excitement. Even if she spends most of it being paranoid about maintaining the space between herself and Gabriel.

* * *

Neither she or Adrien send him anything more until Nathalie confirms they’re checked into the hotel.

* * *

Not booking a villa or an apartment is a regret but the whole idea was for Gabriel to be _seen_ out and about away from Paris while Hawkmoth is akumatising people back there.

If they can be doing something else out in public while an attack is in progress all the better.

So. A prestigious hotel along the Croissette it is then.

It’s doesn’t fit with Gabriel’s usual taste for privacy but at least if the sentimonster does anything odd hopefully it’ll just be written off as a distaste for interacting with people.

It doesn’t fit her tastes either. Not least as it’s too hot for her usual workwear, and she’s not exactly working in the usual sense either, so she’s had to bring her own outdated holiday outfits and she just knows that she’ll stick out like a sore thumb in her purely high street wardrobe amongst all the rich and famous here.

Her room is nice at least, though she probably won’t be spending much time there. She stops her inspection of the room and look at the two suitcases in sitting there in confusion.

She’d only packed one. This must be one of the others' cases and they’re delivered it to the wrong room. Hardly five-star service.

The tag on the interloper case _does_ have her name on though. A suspicion starts to grow. She’d make the probable mistake of mentioning her lacking wardrobe to Gabriel, and unsurprisingly enough he does like the people around him to look nice.

Clicking it open she’s validated in her guess given she’s the only women in their party, and she has doubts he plans to make Adrien an example of gender fluidity.

On one level it’s annoying. She’s not a doll for him to dress up. She’s not Emilie. She’s not a model either.

Not that he’ll have meant it that way. She knows it’s well intentioned. Gabriel does actually _like_ giving people things if they’ll make them happy, he’s just bad at telling how things will be received. It’s certainly not the worst gift he’s ever given anyone, probably because he hasn’t had the time to overthink it and panic. That was how he ended up giving Adrien a pen for his birthday once. And probably how Nathalie had ended up stealing a scarf from a teenage girl. Not her finest moment. She swears he never told her she was to buy Adrien's present though.

At least with this she can’t deny It’ll be useful so as she flicks through the clothes and doesn’t find anything too ridiculous she can’t find it in herself to be too cross.

It might be nice to dress up for once. She just needs to not get lost in the fantasy this represents.

She doesn’t mention it in the text she fires off to Gabriel confirming they’ve all arrived safely.

* * *

He wonders which dress Nathalie's picked tonight and how looks on her.

Asking her to send a photo feels like crossing a boundary, and he doesn’t know why. He asks for confirmation photos of fit and styling from models and clients all the time.

There is the chance she'll refuse to wear anything he's sent her, but he doubts it. She’s too practical for that, and he'd been careful to keep her tastes in mind.

She deserves the best. He doesn’t know why he didn’t start giving her more complimentary clothing from the brand earlier. Especially since he’s been sending her out in the world in his place.

* * *

She goes up to the Agreste’s suite to meet them for dinner once she’s dressed. In truth she’s been uneasy about how long she’s left the sentimonster unsupervised with Adrien and his bodyguard.

Unusually Gabriel himself opens the door. She doesn’t think the real Gabriel would do that.

He looks her up and down, and says, “The dress suits you. I knew it would.”

She wonders if he’s just saying what she thinks Gabriel would, or if creating the copy from Gabriel’s own emotions means it does have some of Gabriel’s memories too.

“Thanks,” she says feeling ridiculous as she does so, it didn’t pick it out after all, and the company would be in trouble if Gabriel himself couldn’t pick out a dress for someone he sees every day of the work week. “Where’s Adrien?”

“Still getting ready. Though I have my suspicions he’s spending more time on his phone than actually dressing.”

It’s strange how real he sounds. She should have expected that. The Ladybug had fooled Chat Noir after all, but it’s different when it’s someone she knows. When _she’s_ the one at risk of being fooled, for all the fact that technically in control.

They don’t speak much while they wait for Adrien to appear. That’s not unusual for them, but this doesn’t feel the same as that.

Once Adrien finally makes an appearance they head down to dinner. He might have taken a long time but he looks very smart, and she can’t quite suppress a slight feeling of pride in him. Ridiculous when he’s a literal model and nothing in his looks or demeanour can be attributed to her.

* * *

If he’d been with them he could have made sure that the three of them all complemented each other.

He doubts the sentimonster will do that for them.

Not that anything Nathalie choses should clash with what he’d had packed for Adrien and himself but it irritates him that he’s stuck here unable to control the final details. That he won’t even get to see how the three of them look together.

He’d ask Adrien’s bodyguard to take a photo but then he might start to wonder why Gabriel didn’t just ask in person, and without hiding it. Not that he’s paid to ask questions but if he manages to text him while his duplicate is very clearly not on his phone then no amount of money is going to stop him having questions even if he never asks them.

That, and the man has conspicuously failed to spy on Adrien’s classmates like he’d requested before, whatever he claimed about not hearing Gabriel’s request. 

* * *

It’s not until Adrien’s bodyguard peels off from them at the entrance to the restaurant that Nathalie realises she’d just assumed she was eating with the Agrestes. It’s presumptuous and she doesn’t know why she’d thought that because it’s not like she does back home in Paris, except for the few dinners she and Gabriel have shared in the Atelier when working late.

She’s _dressed_ to eat with them, and Gabriel was the one to pack it, so she guesses that why she made the assumption.

The sentimonster guides her along with him and Adrien with his hand on the small of her back, but it would, because it’s doing what she wants, and she doesn’t want to be embarrassed.

The maître d’ seems unsurprised to see three of them though, and he brings them to a laid table for three with no comment. Not that they _would_ comment at the hotel like this, but that he seems to expect them as they are is reassuring.

Gabriel had been cagy about reviewing all the bookings himself, so she can only presume he set to this up to go with the clothes.

It must be his guilt coming through after everything with the Peacock Miraculous, and she really doesn’t need this apology holiday, but she’s happy enough to take it.

While she’s caught up in in her thoughts Gabriel’s copy is talking to the waiter. He orders them a bottle of wine and she winces at the price.

 _That_ was not her command she can swear to that.

It _is_ something Gabriel would have done though.

She lets herself relax slightly.

* * *

There is a possibility Gabriel has gotten too used to having someone to cook for him.

Though admittedly he's not sure he can call what he used to do before he and Emilie had moved in together cooking. Making the time to do much always seemed like too much effort, so he'd never done more than the minimum to subsist on.

There had been a reason he’d always been so keen to bring Emilie out to eat when they were dating.

Thankfully their chefs left prepared meals frozen in the kitchen for his days off. Heating them up in well within his capacity.

At least Adrien and Nathalie should be enjoying their own meal.

* * *

Dinner is nice.

That’s not a slight to the chefs. The food is sublime.

But she’d worried it would be awkward. Both the fact of her presence and the fact of the Sentimonster.

It’s surprisingly comfortable though. Neither of the Agrestes seem to find anything odd or awkward in her presence, though she supposes there’s only one of them that would. Adrien seems unbothered though. He seems happy even as the sentimonster listens to his tales of school and he shrugs off the critical comments about the classmates Gabriel doesn’t approve of.

It’s nice.

She could get dangerously used to this.

* * *

For some reason it’s when he’s eating that it really hits him that he’s alone in the house.

He doesn’t know why. 

It’s not that he’s eating alone. It _can’t_ be. It’s a bad habit he knows, but he eats alone with his work quite often. That’s not what the difference is.

This-him alone in the house, and his son and the only friend he can rely on off on a contrived trip to give him an alibi that only one of them knows about-this _isn’t_ how things are supposed to be.

Not for the first time he wishes that everything could go back to how it had been before all of this, when they’d all been happy, and he’d been a better person.

Hawkmoth is exhausting. With Nathalie it’s manageable. Without her it would be impossible, yet that’s what he’s supposed to be doing this week.

* * *

“Father, are you and Nathalie doing anything after dinner?” Adrien asks.

“Nothing’s planned.” Nathalie admits. She’d thought they’d all be tired from the travel and assuming they’d be ready for any thing much would be a bad idea.

“Can we watch a film in the room then?”

She looks to Gabriel as she would normally, enough if technically tonight this is _her_ decision.

“I can’t see why not.” The sentimonster says.

She’s not sure if that was her or not. There’s no reason for Gabriel to say no here. They’re not working. They're not akumatising anyone. They only have the one sitting room in the suite.

There's no excuse for him not to send time with Adrien.

“You'll come too right Nathalie?” Adrien asks startling her. She hadn’t expected to be asked.

She hasn’t it in her to say no.

* * *

He tries to go back to work but he just can’t stop wondering what they’re up to.

* * *

As the films comes to an end she realises that perhaps she’s paid more attention to the Agrestes than she had to the film, but the two of them, together and content, make such a lovely picture.

She watches Adrien head sleepily to bed, and can’t quite keep the smile off her face. Perhaps they’ll get away with this after all. Perhaps Adrien can have the holiday he deserves, and she can recover, and Gabriel’s identity will be kept safe.

That Gabriel _winning_ isn’t one of those wishes is something she carefully doesn’t think about.

She yawns. “I should get off too.”

If only her room was closer to the Agreste’s suite. She doesn’t at all feel like getting out of this chair and walking all the way down there.

She forces herself to stand up but Gabriel catches her hand before she can take more than one step away from the chair.

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” He says.

Her brain is far too tired to make sense of that. “What?”

He looks towards Adrien’s door, and lowers his voice to a whisper. “You’re not fully recovered yet, I don’t think you should be alone.”

She finds herself mirroring his volume. “That’s ridiculous sir. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m less alone here than I am in my apartment, and I manage fine there.”

“Well, you know I don’t like that either.”

The urge to roll her eyes is difficult to resist but she manages it. She knows staying at the mansion would be convenient for their supervillain activities so she understands why Gabriel keeps asking her, but she wants to at least pretend part of her life exists outside the Agrestes, and she could do without the gossip too.

“Gabriel.” She sighs. “Stop worrying. I’ll be fine.”

He doesn’t release her hand. “I’d worry less if you stayed here. I don’t know why you booked a separate room.”

“What did you want me to do? Sleep on one of the couches?”

“You could sleep with me.” 

She must go as red as the streak in her hair if the heat on her face is any indication. “Do you even hear yourself?” She hisses.

“Adrien’s bodyguard is sleeping in his room.”

“That’s different. And that’s made up as a twin.”

“So get it changed in the morning then if it bothers you.”

Obviously it bothers her. It should bother him.

Except this isn’t him.

She doesn’t know how she keeps forgetting. Maybe it’s because she _wanted_ to. Wanted to believe this was Gabriel spending time with his son, and letting her into that part of their world, instead of what he actually asks of her. Maybe it’s because the start of the conversation had been so reminiscent of the ones they’ve had whenever Mayura’s ventured out.

But it’s _not_ him.

It’s a magical copy that controlled by the person possessing the object holding the amok.

She’s the one wearing the bracelet.

And it’s just tried to invite her into his bed.

“Nathalie?” The Not-Gabriel asks in concern.

She yanks her hand out of his and finds herself gripping her other wrist to hide the bracelet.

“I’m going. Don’t follow me.” She tries to make it a command. It sounds more like a plea.

Thankfully it seems to work anyway. He doesn’t try to stop her again and she’s able to grab the handbag and leave the room.

She collapses to the floor once she gets in the door.

It’s not as if she has any illusions that she’s a nice person. She doesn’t even think she’s a good one, even if all she wants to do is help someone she cares about.

And, yes, maybe it’s not a disinterested platonic type of caring, maybe she’s not able to stop the futile hope of a future together that ebbs up every time Gabriel considers stopping, even if she’d never dreamed of that until they started this.

Maybe sometimes she even imagines that he’ll stop because he’ll look over and actually notice her.

So, it’s true, she’s a terrible person who sometimes wishes death on the women they’re trying to save.

But she’s a realist too, and she knows Emilie is only way to make Gabriel happy, that she’s the only one who can repair things between him and Adrien, so she keeps going, and honestly she thinks what she’s willing to do for him, for _them,_ must make up for those wayward desires.

She’s not sure that it makes up for the fact that apparently she’s the type of person who when given control of a physical copy of the person she’s pining for makes that copy try to seduce her.

Was _that_ what it was?

There aren’t many other ways to read a man inviting you into his bed. Even if it’s not a real man in this case.

She doesn’t think she would have done it.

Then again she didn’t think she’d make it ask her that.

The revulsion she feels at the idea gives her some hope she wouldn’t, but if she wouldn’t she can’t understand what just happened.

It could, she supposes, have been some twisted desire for comfort. Goodness knows she feels a need for that these days, and while it’s usually her offering that to Gabriel she can’t pretend that how he cradles her after using the Peacock Miraculous isn’t addicting.

It’s still a ridiculous idea. It would be like cuddling up to a printed body pillow. It might make her a less terrible person but it also makes her a more pathetic one.

Besides it might make her a better person as regards Gabriel himself but she’s not sure whether wanting to snuggle in bed with him is really less of a betrayal to Emilie than the alternative.

She _really_ needs to try dating again if this is what the situation is twisting her into, but Mayura means that’s not really an option.

At least there wasn’t anyone to witness her shame.

Thanks goodness Gabriel has no link to the creation she manifested from his emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: This will be a short funny one-shot of Gabriel cyber-stalking them and getting cross at the sentimonster being a better father and apparently being closer to Nathalie than he is.  
> Me: I should probably write out some of what's happening with Nathalie for me so I know though.  
> Me:...that's the fic isn't it. This is not going to be short, or a one-shot.


	2. Chapter 2

Going back up to their suite and meeting them on their balcony terrace for breakfast is the absolute last thing Nathalie wants to do the next morning. There’s nothing she wants less than to have to walk through the room where last night’s debacle happened. To walk past the bedroom this copy of Gabriel tried to invite her into.

In the original plan she’d meant to get there every morning before Adrien woke up. None of _this_ had been in her expectations.

Apparently she’d thought far too highly of herself.

She needs to act her act together. To quit stalling and get ready and get up there. The sentimonster reacts to _her_ desires. So long as she doesn’t want a repeat of last night-and she doesn’t, this should all be fine.

She should stop hesitating. The plan for today was just to laze by the pool. How hard can that be?

As she flicks through the case she really should have finished unpacking last night, she rapidly rethinks her conviction that this won’t be so bad. Gabriel’s packed her swimwear. That’s just wrong. It’s inappropriate. It’s barely a far enough step from underwear to make this acceptable.

If he didn’t do things like this maybe she wouldn’t be in the state she is and last night wouldn’t have happened.

She carefully doesn’t think about the fact it fits perfectly and what that means.

Nudity’s _different_ in the fashion world. It doesn’t mean the same thing as it does to the rest of the world. You can send a model down a catwalk in sheers and no one blinks an eye.

That’s the environment Gabriel lives in. That and making last minute adjustments in changing rooms before shows, and pinning things in place on couture clients.

To him this would mean nothing. Why on earth would it?

Not for the first time she thinks she should work in another industry.

She doesn’t really wish that.

It might be a surprise given how boring and uncreative she is herself, but she does enjoy watching the gorgeous and ridiculous clothes they create come into existence. She likes seeing the ebb and flow of trends, and the beautiful people who are confident enough to wear them wearing these beautiful creations.

She likes to be able to feel like she contributes to that. That maybe she’s no imagination of her own but she can give free flight to others’.

However wearing a swimsuit Gabriel’s designed is decidingly _not_ how she wants to be involved.

She puts it on anyway.

* * *

He wakes up at his normal time but finds himself lying there in bed still rather than getting up.

There’s nothing scheduled because he’s “on holiday.”

His duplicate actually does have things planned for today but Gabriel’s not the one meant to be making an appearance at the hotel swimming pool so he doesn’t have that either.

Eventually he’s pulled out of bed by his body screaming out for caffeine.

* * *

Thank goodness nothing is said about the other night at breakfast. There’s no reason her creation would say anything. After all _she_ wants nothing said. It’s a relief anyway.

She still finds it difficult to concentrate on actually eating and not watching the sentimonster for what on earth he might do next.

* * *

Gabriel stares at his coffee. It tastes worse than usual and that is inexplicable because while Nathalie is usually the one to make the coffee he _does_ know how to use the coffee machine and he does use it himself sometimes.

Especially these days. With Nathalie so worn out by the Peacock and hiding their double lives he likes to bring her coffee sometimes instead of the other way round.

It’s utterly insufficient thanks for everything she does for him but he likes the small smile it coaxes out of her.

* * *

At least there’s sun umbrellas at the pool. Perhaps she will be able to relax despite the circumstances.

She reclines and tries to ignore her insecurities. She’s not actually _bad_ looking. Just not up to the standard of the other people around this pool.

Also unfortunately pale, and pinkish pale at that. A sun holiday is not her natural habitat. She’s come prepared though. She mightn’t spend money on clothes but she does allow herself the extravagance of fancy skin care.

She narrows her eyes as she realises what she hadn’t seen earlier in Adrien’s rush to get ready.

“Adrien, have you put any suncream on?” She calls out to him.

Unlike her Adrien and Gabriel might be blessed with the ability to tan in the slightest bit of sun rather than burn but that doesn’t mean he should be stinting on his protection.

* * *

He wonders if Nathalie will wear one of the outfits he’d packed her for the pool or the beach.

When choosing them he hadn’t really considered whether she’d wear her hair down or up but it suddenly seems like a vital question.

It shouldn’t affect the suitability of any of the pieces, but it would certainly change the effect.

* * *

She doesn’t succeed in relaxing.

If last night and the fact of the sentimonster himself didn’t put enough of a kibosh on the idea she also finds herself obsessively rechecking her phone waiting to see an Akuma attack on the news.

It doesn’t come.

She tries to stop. Gabriel will attack when the time is right, and there’s nothing she can do about it from here anyway.

Her job is to look after his son and his alibi, _that’s_ what she should be focusing on.

Unfortunately Adrien doesn’t seem to have found anyone else to attach himself to so she does actually need to pay a lot of attention to his interactions with the fake Gabriel.

Which is uncomfortable because she feels like they both have far too little clothing on for her to feel comfortable watching him like this.

Even without that it’s difficult. Usually she just carries out what Gabriel wants with regards to Adrien. With _her_ making all the decisions she just knows she’s going to be tempted to allow more than what his father would, and it’s not exactly as if she’s any experience of what a good parent is like herself.

Still, Adrien _is_ supposed to be on holiday. If Gabriel’s a little laxer than normal hopefully it can be written off as that, and she knows _enough_ she thinks to be able to keep Adrien out of trouble.

* * *

Cyber-stalking his son and Nathalie is not supposed to be how he’s using this time.

It’s probably the exact opposite. The whole point is for them to be safely out of the way.

But instead of sending out akumas he finds himself desperately refreshing Adrien’s Instagram.

It Nathalie would just send more updates then maybe he wouldn’t be reduced to this, but she isn’t. So he is.

At least the location trackers on their phones are still on so he knows they’re still at the hotel like they’re meant to be. Or their phones are anyway, but the idea of Nathalie going out without her phone is impossible to imagine.

Or at least the idea of her willingly going out without her phone.

But there’s no reason to imagine they’re in any danger.

And if they were any would-be kidnappers or muggers would quickly regret it when they found themselves face to face with Mayura.

They’ll be fine. He’s just imagining scenarios to scare himself. Rationally he knows that.

He keeps refreshing anyway.

* * *

Maybe Gabriel wouldn’t let himself get pulled into the pool the way she’s let Adrien drag his replica but she couldn’t find it in herself to dampen Adrien’s fun.

And, well, she can’t claim it’s not amusing.

Until the two of them run over and drag _her_ into the pool despite her protestations.

“I expected better of you!” She gasps above the pool water at the sentimonster.

He smiles unfairly unrepentantly for something that’s supposed to follow her every intent.

* * *

At last the refreshing works out. He must see the photo Adrien’s posted from the poolside immediately as it’s posted.

Strangely getting confirmation of where they are and what they’re up to doesn’t give him the reassurance he was expecting at all.

Adrien beams out from the first photo on the post. That’s not unusual for his online posts. What is seeing his own face next to Adrien’s smiling too. Smiling easily and carefree, in a way that he hasn’t done in years. Not since before he lost Emilie. Not since before she became ill. Not since...,well, he doesn’t know really.

He had forgotten he could look like that.

He has forgotten what looking like that feels like.

The two of them have wet hair, he assumes from the pool gleaming behind them in the photo, and he should be irritated at Adrien having posted a photo of him with his hair down and unstyled but he isn’t.

Instead he just feels hollow. Too empty to hold any emotions. 

His eyes are stuck on the arm Adrien has slung around the sentimonster’s back.

Below it Adrien’s guilelessly written, ‘Having so much fun on holiday with my father. Things have been tough for us this last year, so it’s great to get away from Paris for a bit’.

This is a _good_ thing. He’d wanted Adrien to enjoy himself, and Nathalie’s clearly committed herself to making all of this work with him with the same forthright determination she applies to everything else.

This is a good thing. Adrien’s making it very public that Gabriel Agreste isn’t in Paris.

This is a good thing. He’s not the one being dragged into a swimming pool surrounded by loads of random people.

He’s not sure why he has to keep convincing himself of that.

It’s perfectly normal to find the situation odd. It’s not normal to watch what looks like yourself interacting with your family so it’s expected he’d find the situation disorientating.

He finds himself going through the comments section. Most of them are just fans of Adrien but he assumes some of them are people Adrien knows, from their comments and his son’s replies to them.

Or at least he _hopes_ they’re ones Adrien’s knows. They must have a class list on file somewhere to cross-reference with.

Though he has an unfortunate feeling he knows who the Nino @alya.ladyblogger is referring to when she says, “Nino says to say he thought your dad was physically incapable of relaxing like that.” And then in another comment, “He’s complaining at me for censoring him now.”

Adrien's just replied with a laughing face saying "He should get his own instagram then."

He knew he didn’t like that boy.

* * *

Her phone goes off as she’s uncomfortably wrapped up in her towel attempting to dry off.

Adrien’s sending photos from the day to the group chat.

Of course he is.

At least it’s mainly of the two of them before she’d been dragged in.

It’s good she supposes, for Gabriel to feel at least slightly included in what’s going on.

Though he hasn’t responded, perhaps because he’s concerned about Adrien noticing his counterpart is very clearly _not_ on his phone.

Sometime else must text Adrien because he startles when his phone goes and then rapidly presses at his screen.

He looks up to find her staring at him and looks inexplicably sheepish.

That look of guilt means he’s hiding something. It could be nothing, Adrien sometimes seems to hide perfectly innocuous things, though she doesn’t know why. Despite his youth she might wonder if there’s a girl involved if it wasn’t for the fact she wasn’t aware he had any interest in anybody but Ladybug. Not that she wouldn’t be thankful if he’s found another girl to crush on, preferably one who _isn’t_ fighting his father all the time.

There’s little point in asking in now. From the look of him he’ll just clam up.

* * *

He flicks back to look at the group chat photos again. The photo Adrien posted to Instagram probably was the best pick out of the ones of his duplicate and Adrien. Not necessarily the best technical shot but it held the most emotion.

He wonders where Adrien found the time to use the swimming pool amid taking all these photos. In addition to the one’s of Adrien and ‘him’, there’s some of Adrien by himself, some with his bodyguard, and one with an embarrassed looking Nathalie.

Why she looks embarrassed he’s not quite sure. Adrien’s posted what he thinks are worse photos of her on his Instagram before and she’s never complained to him about that. It can’t be her appearance-he can only see the top of her shoulders in the shot unfortunately, but she’s got nothing to be nervous about regards her looks.

He’s inexplicably disappointed to see her hair casually twisted up in a clip instead of down. The way she has it is clearly more practical in the heat.

Still it does reassure his instincts based on her response to the train photo were right, and that his last message to Adrien warning him Nathalie would be embarrassed if he posted too many photos of her to the group chat without permission was correct.

A notification flashes up for his private chat with Adrien.

He hadn’t meant Adrien to interpret that that he should sent them to him privately.

It definitely can’t have been Nathalie’s appearance she was worried about.

He’s staring. He knows he is. It’s just, he knows she’s an attractive women, and he’d picked out swimwear he knew she’d suit, but he’s never actually seen that much of her skin on show before.

Despite the fact it’s Nathalie, and he _knows_ that it’s Nathalie, his mind finds it impossible to reconcile the women reclining on the deckchair, with his assistant and her usual modest clothing choices.

‘Thanks’ he sends back to Adrien realising he should response.

A second later he realises he should have clarified that this wasn’t what he meant.

He could _maybe_ still do that. Even if it would look stupid.

If he doesn’t though, then Adrien will keep doing it, and it would be no harm to have a _complete_ picture of their time without him.

And if would be good to see how Nathalie’s actually doing given her well-proven tendency not to admit how bad she is.

* * *

She should probably get out of this towel. At this stage its damp enough it’s not going to make her any drier.

Sighing she reaches into her bag and reaches for her sun cream. She just knows that all that pool water’s going to have washed it off.

Her face is easy, as is her front if a little embarrassing. She’s contorted round trying to work out if she’s got all her back when another larger hand joins hers.

“Gabriel?” She squeaks.

She _had_ wanted another pair of hands. She really needs to start remembering her wishes regards that sort of thing can be granted this week.

“You missed a bit.” The faux-Gabriel says. “Let me.”

At this stage refusing would probably make more of a scene. Besides there’s no reason the _real_ Gabriel will ever hear about any of this.

So she lets him, and tries not to think about how it feels, and ignores the shivers it sends down her spine. She tries not to think about whether Gabriel’s own hands would feel identical on the bare skin of her back.

Struck by a sudden need to check Adrien’s reaction she looks up but he seems unbothered, giving her a smile when he meets her eyes.

She looks away embarrassed.

She could swear as she did so she caught Adrien give a thumbs up out of the corner of her eye. What that’s about she has _no_ idea.

* * *

‘Smooth’

He stares at the message Adrien’s sent him on the screen.

What does that mean?

_What is the sentimonster doing with Nathalie?_

The implications are obvious given his previous message probably encouraged Adrien in his misconception about what’s going on between himself and Nathalie.

Which doesn’t clear anything up because he can’t fathom what Adrien can have seen to have provoked that response if that’s how he’s interpreting things. Nathalie’s in charge of their creation, and she wouldn’t let it do anything abnormal for them, but he can’t work out what on earth in their normal relationship could merit this description.

Not that he really understands how Adrien came to his idea about the two of them being together in the first place, but at least there he can see that they _have_ grown closer while trying to save Emilie, and that perhaps Adrien was intelligent enough to see that they did have some secret and just put two and two together and got three.

What Adrien could possibly describe like this though he can’t even imagine.

And he can’t ask Adrien what he’s talking about because he’s supposed to already know.

He can’t even tell how Adrien means this. There’s a reason he prefers video to audio or written communication, that way he might at least be able to gauge Adrien’s tone. As it is he’s not even sure if this is meant to be encouraging, or sarcastic.

If it’s the latter he’s a little insulted.

He’s perfectly capable of sweeping something off their feet romantically if that’s what he wanted to do.

Which he doesn’t obviously.

He’s not free to.

It’s probably meant to be encouraging.

Adrien’s too sweet for the other, and he’s like to think he’d be too polite too.

Though even if he means well it’s a bit much. He’s his father, Adrien shouldn’t be trying to encourage him to seduce his assistant.

‘Don’t be inappropriate’ He sends back.

He should probably stop messaging Adrien. He’ll only get them caught out that way.

* * *

In the end Nathalie has to admit that it’s not such a bad day.

* * *

It almost ends up another unproductive day, but once he manages to force himself to put down the phone and actually pick up the tablet he finds himself racing through preliminary resort designs and doesn’t realise how late it is until he looks up and realises its dark outside despite it being the middle of summer.

If the model for all of them is tall, dark-haired, and fair, well, everyone in his orbit knows there’s a risk of him using them as a muse one day.

It’s not even the first time he’s used Nathalie for it, even if generally he defaults to Emilie for womenswear.

If the theme of the collection is completely different to anything he’s ever let himself be inspired by Nathalie for before then that’s just a natural consequence of seeing her in a new environment.

* * *

She turns down Adrien down when he invites her up to their suite tonight.

There’s the excuse of the photoshoot tomorrow meaning they all need to get to bed early.

It’s even true for Adrien.

She makes sure the idea that it’s true is imprinted on the sentimonster too. The sooner he and Adrien are in separate rooms tonight the better.

If she was actually here with Gabriel they’d probably put the time to use getting through some work in the evening. Maybe even taking calls from the States.

But she’s not here with Gabriel.

Gabriel’s in Paris. She’s here with a magical copy of him she has to somehow control without anything going wrong or his son noticing anything is off.

So she might as well do what he told her to do and rest. Even if she’s fairly sure he’s not doing the same himself. The hypocrite.

* * *

She’s sort of working today, so she puts on a pair of navy linen culottes and a faded terracotta t-shirt. It’s not her standard work outfit by any means but its reminiscent enough it makes her feel more like herself, and less like the women she’s been the last few days who eats with the Agrestes like she’s not just a member of their staff.

* * *

Perhaps if he hadn’t turned his phone on almost immediately upon waking up to see if he had any messages, or if Adrien had posted anything more then he would have been out of bed when he found himself looking back through the photos Adrien had sent over yesterday.

Perhaps if he’d been out of bed when he kept pausing on the photos of Nathalie then he wouldn’t have thought about her the way he did. 

No, even he knows that’s a lie.

But perhaps he wouldn’t have realised that was that he was doing, perhaps he could have gone on longer fooling himself that this was just an aesthetic appreciation, and he didn’t want to touch her and feel the softness of her skin, and see the contrast between their bare limbs tangled together.

Then maybe he could have got it out of his system before she came back, and carried on comfortably none the wiser.

Instead now he isn’t sure how he’s going to look Nathalie in the eye when she comes back.

She’s essentially his closest friend rather than just his employee but both those things together just mean that it’s doubly wrong for him to objectify her.

Triply wrong even. Just because Emilie’s not here doesn’t mean he’s not still married.

He feels like he owes an apology to both of them. Except the idea of telling either of them is impossible.

Poor Nathalie doesn’t deserve to have any of this dumped on her. He couldn’t bear it if she blamed herself when this is all his failing. No, the best he can do for Nathalie is pretend none of this happened and keep a clear professional distance between them.

He tries to imagine doing just that when they come back and abandons it. He needs to be there for her if she’s still suffering from the Miraculous, and if he pulls too far back from her then she’ll notice somethings up, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to avoid. Besides attempting formality between Hawkmoth and Mayura just wouldn’t work. It’s not how _they_ work.

No, he just has to try to treat her completely normally.

It’ll be fine.

As for Emilie. It _should_ be easier to tell her. It’s not as if she can actually hear him. Of course that should make it easier. It would make telling her selfish-the only person benefitting would be him.

That’s not why he doesn’t want to say it to her.

* * *

It’s easy to remember her position until she’s actually with them.

She’d have thought that briefing Adrien on the day, and checking in with the photographers and make-up artists that everything’s fine would make everything feel more like normal.

For some reason it doesn’t.

She has her suspicions it has to do with having something that looks like Gabriel passing her things, and pouring her tea.

There are real downsides to having someone that tries to fulfil your unthinking wants around.

* * *

What he doesn’t understand is why he’s reacting like this to the photos of Nathalie.

He doesn’t mean that as any slight to her.

She’s stunning obviously, and that _someone_ would be attracted to her needs no explanation. He knew _that_ already. In fact recently when he’s feeling particularly guilty about involving her in all of this he sometime finds himself looking over at her and wondering how someone that giving and attractive wasn’t snapped up by someone years ago, rather than being left alone to get ensnared in his tragedy.

The thing is though that he works with people works whose literal job is to be beautiful. He pins things to people’s barely dressed bodies and barely even processes that there’s a living breathing person underneath. If he got distracted like this every time he saw someone gorgeous in in swimwear or something equivalent then he wouldn't be able to do his job.

He shouldn’t be reacting like this to these photos is the point.

All he can blame it on is the dislocation in seeing Nathalie like that, compared to his own mental image of her. 

Well. These is _one_ other explanation.

He sees beautiful people all the time, but usually he’s not seeing _himself_ with them. Oh, there’s plenty of photographs of him around models, or even years ago around actresses and pop stars, but they’re all _work_ photos. Behind the scenes shots, or publicity photos or something.

The ones of him and Nathalie are different. Not that they’re of _him and Nathalie,_ they’re not posing together in any of them, or even touching. It’s just he’s there in photos, on the sunbed next to her, standing up talking to her, just casually there. That’s the thing, they’re casual photographs, and the only women he’s seen photos of himself like that with is Emilie.

Combined with those Adrien’s sent over they could be some family’s holiday photos. He knows they’re not. He knows that’s not him, and it couldn’t be him. He doesn’t even have the slightest desire to sit by a swimming pool.

Yet, there’s something strangely seductive in the image they create anyway.

He groans, and pulls his focus back to the Butterfly Miraculous.

Usually he waits for the emotions strong enough to strike him, but this time he’s willing to take anything that will allow him to do what he’s actually supposed to be doing right now instead of dealing with his sudden inexplicable attraction to his assistant.

Besides the Miraculous has a limited range. It’s possible something near the edge of it might not register strongly, but might actually be a perfect candidate for an akuma.

As he attempts to find a possible candidate he’s reminded why he doesn’t usually work this way. It’s _confusing_ sorting through the masses of emotions in central Paris, and half the time his mind fails to grasp what’s going on and gets distracted anyway.

Eventually he finds something. He’d have preferred something that wasn’t so close to his own feelings, and someone he hadn’t already targeted-at least not without some sort of upgrade but honestly at this point he’ll take want he can get.

* * *

Adrien comes over for a drink of iced water between shots and freezes. 

“Is that an Akuma attack?”

“It is.” She admits. At least there’s no real need to hide her concern. For all Adrien knows there could be plenty of people in Paris for her to worry about instead of just one.

Adrien sits down next to her. “Is it bad? Is Ladybug ok?”

Nathalie obviously has completely the opposite opinion of what makes a _bad_ akuma attack to the rest of world including Adrien.

“It’s Dark Cupid again.” She tells him. “The heroes seem to be handling it so far.”

Unfortunately Chat Noir has yet to make an appearance which has to deeply damage the chances of Ladybug being distracted enough for the akuma to get her earrings.

“I didn’t know Kim liked anyone now.” Adrien says. She’d forgotten that he knew the boy. He points at the screen “Is that Rena Rouge?”

“She and Carapace both turned up immediately after Ladybug. Chat Noir hasn’t though.”

The return of the temporary heroes must be providing Gabriel with so much temptation. If only she was there to help him track down Ladybug through them.

God. She hopes he doesn’t try to do anything alone.

“Huh. That’s weird.” Adrien says. “I hope he’s not injured.”

“Do you think he might be?” She asks. Adrien studies the heroes for _very_ different reasons to them but she’s not going to turn down another opinion on them.

“I can’t see why else he wouldn’t be there. He’d never let down Ladybug.” He replies.

Not deliberately perhaps, but then Mayura doesn’t let down Hawkmoth deliberately either. Though the Ladybug and Chat Noir _do_ always win so she supposes he has a point.

“Probably not,” she says instead of admitting her thoughts, “unless he gets distracted flirting with her.”

“Do you think he flirts too much with her?” Adrien sounds worried.

She hopes he’s not planning to emulate Chat Noir in his wooing style. The only person she’s ever seen nearly as over the top as that was Gabriel when he was trying to make things up with Emilie after an argument.

“I’d be embarrassed if I was her.” She tells her.

“Really?” Adrien starts but then he’s distracted by the screen when one Rena Rouge gets hit by one of the arrows.

They both watch the screen in silence. Adrien seems as invested as she is.

“Um, Adrien?” The photographer’s assistant interrupts. “We need you back on set.”

“I can’t.” Adrien says. “I have to see how this ends.”

It’s shockingly rude coming from him. Thank goodness Gabriel isn’t here to see it.

“I’m sorry.” Nathalie offers on his behalf. She lifts her screen slightly so the man can see it. “He knows the victim.”

“ _Another_ attack?” The man says. “I suppose we’re lucky to be here.”

Loath as she is to tear her own eyes away from the screen she can see his hesitancy.

Adrien’s still fixated on the screen and they can both tell that he’s going to no good in any photos taken if they push him away.

“How long can we delay?”

“Maybe ten minutes, but any longer and you’re going to have issues.”

Not insurmountable ones but certainly expensive ones.

She sighs. “Give us the ten minutes.” After that, well, they’ll have to see.

“Won’t his father be cross?”

She looks over to the sentimonster who’s watching them with a scowl on his face. “I’ll deal with him.”

* * *

The Akuma is disappointing. Then again the akumas _are always_ disappointing. He can’t remember the last time he went into one of these battles genuinely thinking he'd win.

If he’d had Mayura with him perhaps they could have made something of it. Even without the chance for Chat Noir’s Miraculous there was still Ladybug's on offer.

With Mayura and whatever creation she imagined they could have done more.

But he’s sent Mayura away because he can’t bear to see another person he values die from this cursed miraculous.

He still tries, trying to direct the Akuma to the most useful targets but he's nowhere near as upset at his failures as he should be.

* * *

The heroes win. Carapace saves Rena Rouge with a kiss.

Nathalie can’t even find it in herself to be that disappointed.

It _did_ get wound up within those ten minutes.

* * *

Or, he thinks he's not disappointed by failure.

Until the heroes definitively win. Once she casts her repair job and they celebrate he realises that he is disappointed after all.

Apparently some small part of him had still clung to the hope that this time he'd win. That this time he'd get Emilie back.

Obviously he didn’t.

The doubts start creeping in at him again. About what happens if they can’t save Emilie. About what happens if Emilie _is_ as good as dead. About how long they can keep this up because what they’re doing isn’t working, but he doesn’t have another plan.

With the doubts come the temptation. If Emilie _is_ lost forever, then plenty of widowers remarry.

Why shouldn’t he?

He resists the urge to slap himself in the face. Breaking his glasses would only be the cherry on top of today.

Just because he’s attracted to someone other than Emilie for the first time in years is no reason to the jumping to the idea of abandoning his actual marriage for a new imagined one.

He misses Emilie herself but he misses what he had when Emilie was here too. Having someone to confide in, having someone to cling to when the world got too much, having someone to raise Adrien with instead of flailing around by himself.

That much he can bring himself to admit.

So not really a surprise that the thought that he could get that back even if he can’t get her back would occur to him.

It’s a seductive lie he knows. Women aren’t interchangeable. Remarrying wouldn’t be some cure all for everything that’s wrong in his life. It wouldn’t put his family back together. He needs _Emilie_ for that.

* * *

Adrien still seems distracted but she can see he’s putting in the effort to at least try to be professional about it.

The photos will be useable at least.

* * *

He very carefully does not open his conversation with Adrien on his phone.

He _does_ open the groupchat and look at the photos of other photos Adrien sent.

The one he posted to his Instagram catches his eye for some reason.

When he’s looked at it before it had been the expression on his own face which had thrown him. Now though it’s _Adrien’s_ that catches his eye.

Before he’d written it off as being his usual expression in all his online posts, but now he finds himself comparing and it’s _not_ actually. Even putting aside those where Adrien’s adopting a deliberately quizzical expression it’s actually one of his brightest most open smiles.

That’s unexpected.

In fact he didn’t think he was capable of provoking a smile like that from Adrien. Not without Emilie to guide him. Actually possibly even _with_ Emilie to guide him. She’d always been the closer of the two of them to Adrien.

Not that he _has_ actually been the one to make Adrien smile like this of course. He supposes that in a way it’s actually Nathalie who’s provoked this reaction. After all she’s the one controlling the sentimonster Adrien’s interacting with.

Which probably explains how the sentimonster is doing so well with his son. She knows Adrien better than he does these days. Not that trying to save Emilie doesn’t take up a lot of her time too, he could never fault her commitment to that, but given the time he gives other to that he has to spend what should be time with Adrien on his actual job, and she’s had to pick up the slack with his son. 

Most likely he’ll just disappoint Adrien when they get home and he isn’t able to act like his magic copy. That seems much more likely than the idea _he_ could make Adrien happy like this. Adrien doesn’t understand why he makes a lot of the choices he does but even when he is able to try to give the boy what he wants he always says the wrong thing.

After it’s not like he’s seen Adrien smile like this in person since his son was a very small child.

They can’t go back to that. He can’t even make more time for his son, not if he’s still trying to get Adrien’s mother back.

This trip won’t change anything apart from maybe unfairly raising Adrien’s hopes.

That knowledge doesn’t stop him from wishing the photo actually _was_ of him and Adrien.

* * *

“Are we going back to the hotel now?” Adrien asks.

“I thought we might go out for lunch.” The sentimonster says. Nathalie had thought it would be a good idea for Gabriel to make a very public appearance immediately after the attack.

Adrien’s face falls.

“Is that a problem Adrien?”

“It’s just, I wanted to ring my friends to check they were all ok.”

“I thought Ladybug fixed everything with her powers after an attack.”

“She does.” Adrien admits.

“Then all of your friends will be fine. Come on, you’ve delayed us enough already.”

Adrien doesn’t say anything more but he doesn’t look happy either.

Maybe that _was_ a little harsh. None of it wasn’t true though. And it _was_ in character for Gabriel.

* * *

Emilie looks like something out of a fairy-tale as she lies in her casket.

He could almost fool himself into believing she could be woken by a kiss but unfortunately he knows the truth of her condition. He thinks that the quests the heroes were sent on in old stories might have been easier than one she’s set him.

As his hand touches the cold glass the barrier between them feels as metaphorical as literal. Emilie is separated from them forever unless he can defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir. Sometimes he thinks she looks like she’s sleeping, but other times like today she doesn’t look quite real to him.

She’d always been so animated. In repose like this there’s something uncanny about her, and that’s reinforced by not being able to touch her. It’s as if he can’t confirm that she’s really there behind the glass. Even though logically he knows that she is. That he’d put her there and apart from Nathalie no one else knows she’s there to move her.

Even here looking at her the doubts start to creep in at him.

It wasn’t supposed to take this long.

When they’d planned this she’d made it all sound so easy.

He’d known at the time that it was going to be harder than that. She had too he thinks. She’d been putting on a good front to encourage him and trying prevent him from falling apart once she was gone.

Even so they had underestimated the situation. No holders of the major Miraculouses had been seen in years, so they’d thought their new wielders would be easy to defeat.

Instead he keeps getting beaten by what he’s fairly certain are two teenagers.

“I’m sorry.” He tells her. “I’ve failed you again today. I’m not getting any closer. I _am_ trying. I swear I’m trying.”

As always Emilie is silent.

Sometimes he thinks he’s forgetting what her voice sounds like. There’s plenty recordings of her, but that’s not the same.

“Adrien’s safe at least.” He tries again. “I’ve sent him to Cannes with Nathalie. I’ve no idea how I’d manage any of this without her.”

He stops. Before his sudden attraction to her he’d praised Nathalie to Emilie plenty of times. After all if they won it was because of all her work. With the thoughts he was having earlier though it feels wrong to do so.

He changes course. “They seem to be enjoying themselves. I can’t ask Adrien how it is because he thinks I’m there too, but he looks happy in the photos they’ve sent. The hotel should be fine. We stayed there for the film festival a few times.”

He tries to offer her a few more useless platitudes and unhelpful anecdotes about what’s been going on, but he can feel what he’s concealing from her lying behind all his words the whole time.

It makes him feel guilty.

The guilt isn’t enough to make him tell her though.

* * *

They pick a beachfront restaurant near their hotel.

Adrien makes an escape to the loo almost as soon as they arrive, and takes long enough that she has her suspicions he’s made contacts with one of his friends after all.

It gives her time to text Gabriel but she hesitates over what to say.

They don’t want anything too incriminating in their personal phones but even apart from that anything she could say seems insufficient.

Eventually she just sends that she hopes he’s ok.

He doesn’t answer until Adrien comes back, and then all he does is ask after the photoshoot.

It’s a front. She’s seen him after far too many failures not to know that. She just wishes she could be there for him.

* * *

Eventually he gives up trying to pretend there’s any point in his one-sided conversation and goes to attempt to find himself some lunch.

He’s not hungry, but if he doesn’t force himself to stick to some routine he knows he’ll end up not eating at all.

At least Adrien’s photoshoot seems to have gone well. The photos should be up online for him to review soon.

As lovely a city as Paris is it’ll be good to have some outdoor photos of Adrien in a different location.

For now though there’s nothing more to do other than try to convince himself to eat the bread and cheese he’s collected together.

He hopes Adrien and Nathalie are having a more comfortable meal than he is.

At least she has things going on to distract her from his latest failure. This all dragging on isn’t fair to her either.

* * *

“Do you think we should go back to Paris early?” Adrien asks.

Nathalie’s hold on her fork tightens. She’d thought Adrien was enjoying this, or at least that he was until today. He’s getting a holiday and think’s he’s getting time with his father. She thought that was what he wanted.

“Why would we go that?” Gabriel’s copy says.

“Well, we finished the photoshoot.”

“This is supposed to be a holiday Adrien. I thought you’d agree we all needed one after this last year. Especially with today.”

“Right. With the attack. Yeah, you’re right. It’s fine. “

That was odd. All she can think is that Adrien must be really concerned about someone back in Paris.

What a thing to have in common.

* * *

Actually Gabriel realises. He _might_ be able to find out how Nathalie and Adrien are doing without asking them.

Or see how they’re doing in from a distance at least.

These days the paparazzi put their photos up for sale on the internet almost immediately and then websites churn out basic barely informative write ups at ridiculous speeds.

All he has to do is see what the internet has to say. 

* * *

Her suspicions are further stoked when Adrien locks himself in his room when they get back to the hotel suite.

It’s something to look into when they get back to Paris she supposes.

She’s not going to try to listen to through the door.

Instead she follows Gabriel out to their balcony terrace. She thinks they can probably get away with staying here until it’s time to get ready for dinner, unless Adrien really wants to go back down to the pool or the beach. They’ve put in enough of an appearance in public today she thinks. Certainly if she was _actually_ here with Gabriel then it’s what they’d do.

Not that any of the rest of it would have happened if she was actually here with Gabriel.

She would have taken Adrien to the pool yesterday, and his photoshoot today, and Gabriel would have stayed in the room working, unless there was some unmissable appointment. Perhaps they might have joined him _here_ for lunch but it would have been a very different experience.

This is better for everyone really.

“Here,” The sentimonster interrupts her thoughts, holding out a full champagne flute, “You deserve this.”

Great. Now she’s trying to give herself permission to drink on the job. That cannot be a good sign. She’d already had a glass of white wine at lunchtime.

“What are we celebrating?” She asks.

“A successful photoshoot.”

“That doesn’t usually call for a celebration.”

“We _are_ on holiday Nathalie.”

She takes the drink. They _are_ on holiday after all. Theoretically at least. Besides it’s already been poured. It’s not as if she could return it to the minibar.

She settles herself on one of the loungers, and he takes the other.

The temptations there to make a remark about Adrien but it seems silly to do so when she’ll just get whatever response she’s looking for.

Instead she finds herself scrolling articles about the latest attack.

It wasn’t the least likely to succeed attempt they’ve made but she doesn’t see anything that changes her opinion from the video that there was nothing special about it either. Just another attempt to do the same thing again.

She can’t begrudge Gabriel his inability to resist any possibly useful emotions. If _she_ were in his place she’s not even sure she’d be able to put up any pretence of still going on with the rest of her life.

It’s just that sometimes she thinks they’re never going to succeed. That their lives are just to be endless cycle of failed attempts until it all comes to a final end, whether that’s death or jail.

She’d been prepared for the first but now the Peacock Miraculous has been fixed suddenly the drudgery of the failure after failure hits her much harder. There had been a sort of freedom in knowing it couldn’t keep going on for her, and a sort of fatalism in knowing she had no choice but to continue if she wanted to defer her death.

Now all she has as a reason to keep going is wanting to make Gabriel happy. To make him the man, and the father, that he used to be. That she knows he _can_ be.

She takes a sip of her glass and watches the sentimonster who looks content scrolling through his own phone, and then acknowledges Adrien when the boy finally comes back to them.

That first night was the worst of it but it’s not just regarding _her_ that this holiday can feel like a sick mockery of what she wants.

* * *

He has made a mistake.

This _has_ to be one of the low points of his life.

There have, he will admit, been some pretty embarrassing akumas, but that’s only half his fault at least. He can’t afford not take every chance his gets to use Butterfly Miraculous’ powers, and apparently what causes strong emotions in people is _much_ more varied than you might think. He’d never have realised anybody had such deep affection for pigeons.

Unfortunately there’s absolutely no one else he can blame his reading stupid gossip trash websites online on, but once he’d started on the first one he hadn’t been able to stop, even though he can feel his brain cells dying.

The current one isn’t even in French.

It’s stupid. Nathalie isn’t even a celebrity. Which is obvious because the blasted thing doesn’t even know who she is.

He knew he shouldn’t have clicked it the moment he saw the headline link.

“Gabriel Agreste moves on, Reclusive French fashion designer out in Cannes with model son and new girlfriend.”

He’s almost surprised he hasn’t broken his phone he’s gripping it so tight.

For a moment he’d felt sheer panic and wondered if maybe there was some sort of link between him and sentimonster created from his emotions. That maybe his reaction to the pictures had effected it too, and that something had actually happened.

As he looks through the pictures he’s reassured though. There’s nothing untoward going on no matter what the idiotic picture caption writer thinks saying things like “looking cosy with his unknown companion at lunch.”

They do _not_ look cosy.

They just look like themselves. Comfortable with each other, yes, because they are, they’d have to be with how much time they spend in the same room but nothing more.

 _Adrien’s right there_ for goodness sake.

He’d like to think he has a little bit more class than to take his son as a third wheel on a romantic date.

Not that this is a romantic date obviously. He and Nathalie aren’t even together. Either romantically or indeed physically in the same location.

This is just an alibi.

And even if he was actually with them it would still just be he, his son, and his assistant going out for lunch after a successful photoshoot. Completely professional.

The article writer has no idea what they’re talking about which is only to be expected from someone who hasn’t even done the basic research about how Nathalie is. Unknown companion indeed.

He should ask legal if he can sue.

It’s demeaning to Nathalie to be labelled like that.

Just because he’d just discovered he’s capable of being attracted to her doesn’t mean she reciprocates that at all.

She’s so committing to saving Emilie she’d probably be horrified by the implications if they saw this article.

He continues scrolling, but there’s still no basis for the article’s assumption.

At least they’re good photos of all of them.

He finds himself unsurprised that Nathalie’s gravitated to the clothes in the suitcase most like her normal outfit.

It’s more comfortable for him seeing her like that too, even if it means he starts questioning what she usually wears casually. It’s not often he sees her in anything other than a suit. In fact while he’s seen her dressed up for more formal events, he’s never seen her dressed down.

He squashes the temptation to make use of the spare key she left for her apartment and go through her closet and goes back to looking through the stupid article.

They’re complimentary about all of their outfits which is one good thing he supposes, but apparently this newspaper (not that it deserves that name), also likes to show their readers the high street knockoffs they can buy to “get the look.”

It’s not as if he thinks everyone can afford designer fashion, and this particular outfit isn’t distinctive enough for him to get annoyed at copies but the ones they’re trying to sell aren’t even good clothes in their own right.

The proportions on the culottes are all wrong. They’re going to look stupid on most people.

Even if people who read this article and believe it deserve to look stupid.

* * *

Gabriel goes back in to re-fill their glasses and Adrien suddenly appears by her side like he’s been waiting for his father to leave.

“Hey Nathalie?” He asks.

“Yes?” She replies, unsure what he wants.

“I just wanted to say thanks. For earlier. I know it’s hard delaying shoots like that.”

“It’s fine.” She brushes him off. “We were lucky the akuma attack got wrapped up so quickly.”

“Yeah. Lucky.” He says. “Father wasn’t too cross was he? He seemed ok at lunch?”

The man in question has just opened to the door to head back out to them and her eyes are automatically drawn to him.

“Don’t worry about it.” She says.

Adrien realises where she’s looking a second later, and squeaks “Cool,” before making his escape back to the table where he’s doing some Chinese practise exercises his tutor set him because he was going to miss this week.

The Gabriel replica leans over to put her glass on the side-table and pauses for the slightest second above her and for a moment she thinks he’s going to kiss her.

He doesn’t.

Thankfully.

Unfortunately it seems like she isn’t the only one wondering. Instead of doing his work Adrien is staring at them wide-eyed, though he quickly looks down and starts scribbling furiously when they make eye-contact.

Hopefully he’ll write it off as his imagination. It’s not as if there’s anything else going on in her relationship with Gabriel to give him that idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should this chapter have been split in two for pacing reasons? Probably!


	3. Chapter 3

He looks around the wreck he’s made of the Atelier and he’s not proud. Taking out his frustration on inanimate objects is immature; he knows that. The only upside to it that no one’s here to see any of it.

Though he’d like to think he _wouldn’t_ have done it in front of Nathalie for all that might be giving himself too much credit, but he _has_ been starting to feel uncomfortable at the violence he’s been exposing her to.

Then again if she was here he probably wouldn’t have done this because she’s good at calming him down. Without her he’d have burnt himself out trying to deal with all of this months ago.

Besides it hadn’t really helped. He’s still furious at his failure and all he’s managed to do is give himself a cut on his hand where it had caught on a sharp edge.

It had been an akuma with a real chance. Decent powers. A weakened Ladybug as Chat Noir had failed to turn up again, and none of the temporary heroes have the same rapport with her.

Yet it had failed again.

He’d failed Emilie again.

It’s his fault, and he knows that.

The akuma _was_ good. It could have won. It really could have won if he’d just given it better direction and not spent the whole fight getting distracted about what his son and Nathalie were up to in Cannes with the sentimonster version of him.

But it’s just, this not knowing is driving him up the wall.

That’s not any excuse. He trusts Nathalie to keep Adrien safe and there’s no reason for him to think they’re doing anything other than following the schedule of activities he’d agreed with Nathalie when they went out.

As for the _other_ reasons he’s struggling to take his mind off them, well, they just make it even worse.

He’d woken up committed to sending out an akuma just to proof to himself that he _was_ loyal to his promise to Emilie, and when he got the chance all he managed to prove was the opposite.

This is a loss he can’t justify to her.

He can’t stand in front of her and tell her he lost because of _this._

That right in that moment getting her back wasn’t the main thing on his brain.

Losing is one thing. He’s become inured to that despite the little bit of hope he starts every attack with.

Losing like this, because of thoughts of betraying her, that’s another thing entirely.

It’s just he’s getting tired.

That’s no excuse. He is aware of that.

But all he’s achieved since starting on this is almost killing Nathalie too.

This can’t go on indefinitely. Even if he’d never seen those photos of Nathalie by the pool, the other photos of him and Adrien and the paparazzi shots at lunchtime could have been enough to set him off looking for another way to do things.

He just doesn’t know if he can keep doing this, and today’s just shown that if he’s not committed to doing this then there’s no point to trying to do it.

He _needs_ to get his mind back on track, and stop creating fantasies out of wholecloth, and think about all of this logically.

If things go on like this he’s not helping anyone, not Emilie, not Nathalie, not Adrien, not himself.

He lets himself collapse down against the wall to the floor, and feels that familiar tightness in his throat from the days when he’d first realised how serious Emilie’s illness really was, and that there wasn’t any conventional way to save her, start to form.

His glasses begin to stream up from the wetness in his eyes and he yanks then off in irritation.

The only benefit of no one being in the house is that there’s no chance that anyone’s going to walk in on him crying surrounded by the mess he’s created.

Inexplicably he still wishes Nathalie was here to tell him it was going to be ok anyway.

* * *

Lovely as the last two days have been she’s glad they’d signed Adrien up for a wind-surfing class. Without him here, and with the sentimonster lying on his own sunbed apparently reading she can lie back and relax and not have to think about anything.

She’d needed this.

Infuriating as he could be Gabriel was right when he said she needed rest to recover, even if it’s been in less supply the rest of this week than he'd hoped.

Really the only problem today is that she’s starting to get used to all of this. It’s going to be a sad shock when she goes on her own holidays and the hotel _doesn’t_ have its own loungers on the beach with umbrellas and the staff bringing around complimentary iced water. 

Out of the problems she could been having on this holiday it’s rather minor.

“Oh, I didn’t order that.” She says as a member of staff puts a smoothie down next to her.

“I did,” The Gabriel imitation says, “It’s supposed to be energising.”

“Thanks then.” She says. Unsure if this was promoted by her earlier thoughts about needing rest.

She’s not sure how she missed him ordering it but she has been intermittently dosing off throughout the day. Hopefully he’s not been doing anything else.

She moves the back of the sunbed into a better position for sitting and takes a sip of her drink. It’s not bad despite the green colour that had concerned her.

“Do you want to try it?”

“Why not?” He says, and leans over to her to take it, “That’s not bad. Do you want one of mine?”

At that moment Adrien appears dragging another boy behind him.

“Who’s this?” The sentmonster asks.

“This is Marc-he was in my windsurfing class, the two of us were going to go get some food if that’s ok with you?”

Nathalie tenses. She doesn’t know if Gabriel would allow that, but she does want to let him, if they’re just getting snacks from the hotel bar here she can’t see why it should be an issue.

His face looks considering. “You can.” He says. “If you come straight back here after.”

* * *

Maybe he _does_ need a holiday.

He’d never felt the need before, but then again he’s actually _successful_ at his actual work. Or he was, back when he cared about that, these days he knows the brand is plateauing. If it wasn’t for his ability to shift work onto his junior designers, Nathalie’s prompting, and Adrien inheriting his mother’s ability to transfix the camera it would possibly be in a far worse position than that.

A holiday might have been good for him. It might be easier to come back after a break.

If he was with them maybe he might have come back refreshed and ready to come up with a better plan. Instead even he’s aware that he’s falling to pieces without them. 

He should be there.

It’s not fair that the sentimonster gets to enjoy his time with them, and he’s stuck here just attempting failure after failure again and again.

The sentimonster isn’t even a person. It can’t appreciate what it has the way Gabriel could.

Adrien’s smiles and how Nathalie looks in the clothes he’s picked for her are moments that should belong to him, and he’s thrown them away to bestow them on something made of magic. He’s aware he’d no doubt feel even worse about the situation if it _was_ a real human who could appreciate them, but the _waste_ of all of it just grinds on him.

It’s just not fair. It doesn’t need what’s happening the way he does.

He knows it would be a bad idea. That there were _reasons_ for this plan. He just has to keep reminding himself of that.

Even if it’s starting to feel unconvincing.

He doesn’t have the time to have those moments with them. Not with if he’s supposed to be trying to get Emilie back.

* * *

She’d meant to go back to her room straight after the beach but she lingers in the Agrestes, following the two of them out to their terrace.

It’s better if she’s here to monitor the sentimonster she tells herself.

Adrien gets his phone out, and suddenly pales, “There’s been another akuma attack?”

“Has there?” She asks suddenly realising that she hadn’t thought a thing about any akumas all day. That’s the first time she’s been able to do that in a _long_ time.

“Yeah, while we at the beach.”

“Anything unusual?” She asks, even though she knows there can’t have been, if Gabriel had won or if he’d been unmasked Adrien would have said something by now.

“Chat Noir didn’t turn up again.” He surprises her by saying, “But don’t worry Ladybug still won!”

Really not what she was worried about at all but she can hardly say that.

“I’m going to head inside for a bit.” He says.

She shrugs “If you want.”

Later she comes in from the terrace to get herself a coffee and she finds Adrien’s bodyguard in the living room by himself.

“Is Adrien on the phone _again?_ ” She asks.

He nods.

She was vaguely aware he’d imprinted on the friends he’d made at school pretty strongly but this is getting ridiculous.

“I thought teenagers didn’t make phone calls these days. Aren’t they all supposed to be on Snapchat, or group chats on whatever messenger they use, or something?”

He shrugs.

Part of her wonders if he does have a girlfriend and that’s what all these phone calls locked in his bedroom or bathroom are about. Part of her remembers that it shouldn’t matter to her if he does. It’s a conversation he should have with Gabriel not her, and Gabriel isn’t here.

She heads back out to the terrace.

The copy sits in the corner sketching. She wonders whether anything he designs will be of any use. The Miraculous creates a good imitation at least of sentience but can it really copy over that creativity and talent?

She finds herself fiddling with her own phone.

Well. Adrien's secret phone calls are never short. She has _some_ time.

She rings him before she can chicken out.

“Nathalie?” Gabriel’s voice comes through her phone, “Is something wrong?”

The panic in his voice makes her regret this. It was a stupid idea. She’d just been concerned about him, she hadn’t wanted to worry him more. It’s spending time with this stupid Sentimonster that’s confusing her and making her think Gabriel would _welcome_ a phone call from her.

“No, no everything’s fine here.” She rushes to reassure him. “Sir.” She just about remembers to tack it on at the end, and that starts her off panicking about whether she _hasn’t_ been saying it here.

“Good.” He says, leaving her without any clear idea of his mood or what to say.

“I just wanted to check in with you. See if there was anything you wanted to know or wanted done. I know we can text but,”

“No, no it’s not the same. I’m glad you called.”

Relief floods her immediately but she’s not sure what to say back to that.

“So, um, is there anything?” She tries to venture but she and Gabriel both start talking at the same time and then fall into making apologies.

Eventually he takes back the reins of the conversation. “Where are you at the moment? Your room?”

“Ah no, on the terrace of your suite.”

“Is that safe?”

“Safe enough. Adrien’s in his room on his own phone. Apparently he likes to check in with all his friends after Akuma attacks.”

“I had no idea.”

“Neither did I. He’s sensitive to that sort of thing though. We knew _that._ ”

“There is that. So you’re alone?”

“Apart from you. Adrien's bodyguard's inside.”

“Do you mean because I’m on the phone or?”

“The latter sir.” She says grasping his meaning.

“Isn’t that odd?”

“No stranger than the rest of it.” It’s not really. In so ways it’s easier. Talking to Gabriel makes it nice and clear that she’s not here with Gabriel.

“But you’re handling it?” He asks.

“Yes.” She says with more confidence than she really feels, “I’m handling it.”

“I knew you would. I don’t know what I’d do without you to rely on.”

“Probably lose your company.”

“Yes, I suppose.” He doesn’t sound amused at all and she regrets her attempt at a joke even though she doesn’t know how she should have responded.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you’d manage.”

“That seems doubtful.”

His words land like a lead balloon and once again she’s let unsure how to respond. She can’t gauge what he’s looking for from her. This isn’t normal for her and Gabriel. Usually they understand each other naturally.

He seems lost at had to continue too, but manages to change the topic before she does “Are you getting enough rest? I know you’ve still had to look after it and Adrien.”

“It’s fine. I mean it doesn’t take much energy to lie on a sun lounger.”

“No, I guess not. Is Adrien having fun?”

“He is. He's worrying about his friends back in Paris I think, but when he forgets about that he has a great time. You should have seen how excited he was on the beach today.”

“Yes, I saw the photos.”

“Right. I’d forgotten you would have.”

“I’m glad we can give him this at least.”

“Me too.” She pauses, made brave from the distance from him. “You should be here. “

“Nathalie.” He sighs, “You know why I-wait does he know?”

“No, he's no idea. It’s just. I see them having all these moments together and _it should be you there._ ”

“You’re right.”

“I am?”

“Don’t sound so shocked. I hope you weren’t saying things without meaning them.”

“Well, no, but,”

“Nathalie,” he interrupts her but then hesitates before talking, “ _Are_ you doing ok? I wanted this to be a holiday for you too.”

She freezes in panic for a moment. It’s not like she can tell him that sometimes she relaxes and forgets what’s going on and enjoys herself exceedingly until his counterpart tries to escalate things between them and she has to shut it down and then she feels guilty.

“Don’t worry.” She says in the bright easy voice she using when reassuring difficult clients, “I’m having a lovely time. You were right, I definitely needed a break.”

“Why are you using your telephone voice?” He asks and she wants to swear. How she forgot he hears her on the phone everyday she doesn’t know.

Maybe it’s because generally he doesn’t pay much attention to her unless he needs something from her. That he’s noticed the voice she ends up using on the phone far too much is a surprise.

She sighs. “It has been nice. The hotel's lovely, and the food's great, but it has been difficult with him.”

“It.” Gabriel corrects her.

“Right.”

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t realised that from the photos.”

“Well, I can’t let Adrien know can I?”

The boy in question walks into the view through the window clearly heading towards the door. She hurries to warn Gabriel. “Sorry, Adrien’s coming out. I’ll have to wrap this up.”

“Of course.” Gabriel pauses, but she can tell there’s more to come. “He _is_ enjoying this yes?”

She’s not sure why he’s making her repeat herself, but she reassures him, “He is. Are _you_ doing ok?”

“Everything’s going according to plan.”

He’s being evasive and she risks pushing past his shutdown despite Adrien having reached the door “That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s been stranger than I expected being in the house alone.” He admits.

“We’ll be back soon.”

“I know.”

Her natural impulse is to offer to pass the phone over to Adrien, who thankfully has gone to sit down by what he thinks is his father when he saw she was on the phone, but she manages to stifle it. That really _would_ be a stupid way for this to come out.

Her next instinct-to tell him she misses him too she squashes down too.

“I should go. Adrien's here now.”

“I’ve probably kept you too long. Have a good night Nathalie.”

“You too.” She ends the call before she can say sir and provoke any questions from Adrien.

Unfortunately he has questions anyway. “Were you talking to a friend? You shouldn’t feel like you have to cut it short for us, should she father?”

Not-Gabriel pauses in his drawing. “I doubt Nathalie would want an audience for her private phone calls anymore than you do Adrien.”

Adrien blushes uncharacteristically, and Nathalie wonders again about his possible girlfriend and whether she should have mentioned her suspicions to Gabriel on the phone. 

* * *

The phone call didn’t fix anything.

Oh he hasn’t been lying when he’d said he was glad she’d called. It had been...reassuring to hear her voice and know she was alright.

To know she still exists as the Nathalie he knows, and be reminded that all of this is his plan. That it’s just a way to protect their identities with a side benefit of giving Adrien something he’s wanted for a long time.

Sometimes when looking at the pictures and Adrien's vague texts it doesn’t feel like that.

It feels more like he's watching a version of himself that made a different decision. One where he’d refused to become Hawkmoth. One where he'd tried to fill Emilie’s missing space in their lives by spending more time with Adrien by himself instead of trying to bring her back. One where maybe Nathalie _wasn’t_ just his assistant, one where the thoughts he’s been having about her are completely normal, _expected_ even.

The three of them, they look like a family in those shots.

And, he knows they’re not. He and Adrien barely qualify as that and they _are_ one by blood. Nathalie, well, given all the time she’s been working for him and how she’s watched Adrien grow up he supposed she is in a way. It’s just not the way he's starting to think of her.

And the thing is.

Well.

The thing is.

He thinks maybe that he wants that reality he can pretend exists from the photographs.

There’s one photo Adrien sent him today. Nathalie clearly has no idea he’s taken it, and it’s from a distance, but she’d propped herself up on the sunbed and turned to, he assumes, say something to his copy.

It’s a trick of the light he knows but she looks _fond_ of him there.

It feels like a picture of what they _could_ have.

And if he’d thought that hearing the _real_ Nathalie on the phone, not some mirage he’d conjured up from some photos and his desires, was going to dispel that, well it didn’t.

There’s a possibility he wants it _more._

He’d thought all of this had come completely out of nowhere, that if he’d actually gone with them, then he and her would have acted like they normally do and their relationship would have been unchanged.

There’s merit in that idea.

Yet even though physical side of it had come out of nowhere he’s starting to think that maybe he’s been thinking of her as more than an assistant, more than a friend even, for longer than he’d realised.

Her feelings are a different matter.

She’d said things were difficult with the sentimonster.

Then Adrien had come and she hadn't gone into detail, but he can't help but wonder whether Adrien had actually come or whether she’d just been avoiding he question.

So he doesn’t really know what she means. Is it difficult because, much as it’s doing much better with his son than he does, it's still meant to be him and he believes he is in fact considered difficult? Or is it difficult because she has to monitor it to continue their little performance?

She had said he should be there.

That means she wants him there.

Only as Adrien’s father maybe.

But that's something.

If he’s actually _there_ and not just looking at photos he might be able to tell if she might want what he thinks he might wants.

He could spend the time with Adrien even if she didn’t.

The same instinct that lets in judge in someone can be convinced to buy something even if they think they shouldn’t is telling him that maybe if he did then she'd be more interested.

That's not a good reason to do it.

That Emilie might have approved too though maybe suggests it _is_ the right thing to do.

Then again he probably most of Paris would say he’s been picking the wrong thing to do up to now, and despite all of this he still doesn’t agree with that at all

Except that, letting Nathalie be Mayura, that was wrong, and he should never have allowed it after that first time.

 _That_ he does regret.

Regret is one those emotions he’s always deemed pointless though. It doesn’t make any difference to anyone if he regrets what he’s done. What makes the difference is what he does now.

He doesn’t know what he wants to do now.

* * *

Someone knocks at her door just as she manages to get the zip up on her dress.

She can’t think who it could be. She's supposed to be meeting the men upstairs in their suite, and she hasn’t ordered anything to be delivered.

On opening the door to find _Adrien_ of all people.

“Hey, Nathalie?” he says.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Where’s your father?”

“In the shower I think”

“Right.” She is pointedly not thinking about that. “And you decided to just roam the hotel by yourself?”

Gabriel would have a fit if he was here. At least Adrien’s already dressed though. He must have done so in a rush to get down here now though which only raises more questions.

“I wanted to ask you something. And I’m not alone. I have Gorilla.”

Sure enough when she sticks her head out of the room Adrien's bodyguard is leaning against the wall between her room and her neighbours.

She tries to silently ask what exactly is going on but unfortunately she’s not as good at that as he is because he just shrugs in response.

She wants to tell Adrien to just go upstairs, but he’s looking so forlorn, and she can feel his bodyguard’s eyes bearing into her telling her not to screw this up.

The corridor isn’t the place for whatever this is.

“Alright, come in then.”

Adrien's the only one to follow her in. She doesn’t know how she feels about that.

She raises an eyebrow as she sits down on the bed, “What do you need that you think I'll be able to get you?”

“It's not something I need exactly. Well, I _do,_ but I don’t know, it’s just, would you replace a friend?”

“I barely have friends.” She says without thinking and regrets it when his face drops. Adrien shouldn’t have to deal with her lack of a social life, “Why are you asking?”

“I don't know.” He says.

“Shouldn’t you be talking to your father about whatever this is?” Not that he actually could given that he’s not here to ask but it’s strange for Adrien to seek out _her_ for this.

“I tried, but he said we didn’t have time.” He explains.

That’s on her. So sadly she's pretty sure that means it's definitely up to her to help him now.

Clearly misinterpreting her expression he says, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you while you where getting ready.” Which only makes her feel even worse.

“It’s fine. I only need to put my face on. I was going to put my hair up so it doesn’t need to be perfectly dry.” She feels bad at how that makes this answers makes his face fall, even if she doesn’t know why, and she wracks her brain trying to work out what he’s actually asking about. “Is this about this film project your friend wanted you to participate in?”

“I guess “

“Oh Adrien. If he’s really your friend then he won’t blame you. He might blame your father but that's not your fault.”

“I just feel like I’m letting everyone down. I mean Chat Noir missed the last two Akuma attscks and everyone's cross at him. Why shouldn't they be cross at me?”

“That's not really comparable.” Infuriating as it is for her personally, and much as what Hawkmoth actually wants the Miraculous for isn’t any danger to them, most of Paris would consider Chat Noir’s actions to be necessary. There’s no expectation like that to Adrien being in a student film.

“It feels like it is.” He says.

The conversation feels like it's getting away from her. “Are _you_ cross at Chat Noir? I know you admire Ladybug but we all have to remember we don't actually know the heroes. I'm sure there was a good reason for him no to be there those last two attacks.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely, I know he's not as serious as she is but that doesn’t mean he’s not dedicated.” She can say that with certainty having suffered the results of that dedication close up.

He seems to see her conviction but he frowns, “I guess. I just think, a real hero wouldn’t abandon Ladybug would he?”

She really hopes that he _does_ have a girlfriend and this is some mangled metaphor because she’s involved in the film project they've forced Adrien to miss. The absolute last thing they need is him trying to convince Ladybug he’d make her a better partner than Chat Noir.

Hopefully she’d turn him down but infuriatingly competent as she is, she _is_ a teenage girl who might get her head turned by a famous model.

Trying to ignore the horrible images in her head of having to fight Adrien as Mayura she tries to reassure him. “I can’t tell you what a real hero would do, but I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s not as if Ladybug seems to be struggling without him.”

Unfortunately.

It’d make everything easier if Gabriel had won her Miraculous by the time she and Adrien got back.

Easier to remind herself of what they’re fighting for.

“Yeah, I know.” Sighed Adrien.

She wishes she had a better idea of what he wants her to say to him. This just proves how unsuited she is to the role she keeps coveting. _This_ is why they need Emilie back.

“Adrien.” She has to try. Emilie's not here. Gabriel’s not here. There’s just her. “If your friend replaces you in his project, that doesn’t mean you’re not still his friend. I’m sure you’d always be his first choice,” after all he _is_ famous but she doesn’t say that, “but,, I doubt very much your friendship is reliant on you helping him out. I know this is just a holiday but your friends know you have other obligations.”

“They do but,”

“You still feel bad for letting them down?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure they know that.”

“You think?”

She smiles, “Don’t tell your father because I think he’s envisaging you having a career on screen like your mother but you’re not a great actor when it comes to hiding your guilt.”

“I can act!” He retorts, “just maybe not with that sort of thing.”

“I know. You did a good job as Chat Noir on that film.” Wait. “You, you’re not taking whatever people are saying about Chat Noir online personally because you played him are you? Everyone knows you were just voicing him in a film. No one’s going to blame you.”

“I can definitely say that’s not the problem.”

“Well. Good.”

“It’s just, I know what you’re saying, but.” He gives up. “But, I mean, actually I guess you and Father would still be friends even if you weren’t able to do something for him.”

“I don’t know about that.” She says automatically even as she realises that’s not the answer he’s looking for to reassure himself about his own relationships. “We’re not, that’s not the same thing, it’s my _job_ to do things for your father. If I couldn’t do that then he’d have to replace me.”

Thankfully the effects of the Peacock have been intermittent enough that hasn’t been necessary. Not that she doesn’t think Gabriel wouldn’t personally top up whatever the company would pay her for the time she’d be unable to work due to illness but he'd have to replace her even if his Miraculous related activities would make it difficult.

“But you’re about the only person in the world he actually likes.”

Because she’d earned that by being willing to support him in anything. No one could _dislike_ someone who was willing to do what she’d done for him.

No, that’s unfair. He’d trusted her with what he was doing before she’d done anything more than show her competence as an employee and basic human decency in sympathising over Emilie.

She’s still not sure Adrien isn’t rather exaggerating the point though, and besides, “I know he's not always good at showing it but, your father does love you know.”

“Oh yeah, I know _that._ I meant other than me.”

It's reassuring at least that he doesn’t doubt his own place in Gabriel’s heart. She knows Gabriel’s been more distant with him since they lost Emilie. That’s part of why she thought school was a good idea for him.

And, it’s not going to improve until they win. She knows that. Not when they’ve Hawkmoth to hide so they can’t be encouraging Adrien to feel free to come looking for his father all the time. If Gabriel had told him it might be a different matter, but he’s never really explained to her what changed her mind about doing that.

Plus, well, one thing she hadn’t admired in Gabriel and Emilie’s relationship was how Gabriel and Adrien always seemed to relate to each other _through Emilie_ , and neither Gabriel nor Emilie had seemed to be think it was something that needed fixing. For all that even before fighting to save Emilie threw them together and her feelings deepened against her will she _had_ always been a little bit in love with the love between them, but that part of their relationship was one thing she'd never aspired to in any increasingly unlikely hypothetical future marriage.

Of course she doesn’t say any of this to Adrien. Just telling him, “Well, I’ve worked with him a long time. If we didn't get on I've never have made it this many years.”

“I guess.” He still didn’t seem convinced by her response even if he stands up clearly ready to leave. “I should let you finish getting ready.”

She does need to do her make-up and put her hair up but the small part of her that has some emotional competence is yelling out that she hasn't done enough to settle Adrien down.

She stands up to follow him. “Adrien,” she tries and he turns around, and she regrets not thinking this through more.

What more she can say she has no idea, any more than she knows what to say to comfort his father really either. So she does the only thing she can do and pulls him into a hug. It's not really appropriate but Gabriel would be a hypocrite to object.

Adrien startles but then hugs her tightly back.

“You don’t have anything to be guilty about” She tells him, “You deserve this holiday after everything.”

He deserves more than this. He deserves to have his actual father here. But she can't give him that. All she can do is make sure he doesn’t find out that he doesn’t.

She doesn't mind lying to the rest of the world but it's different with Adrien. If only Gabriel had gone though with his plan to tell him.

“You know,” says Adrien, “I think we all did. I haven't seen my father so relaxed in years.”

She tenses. She'd known she was letting the Sentimonster act more lax than Gabriel was because she felt bad about how they were deceiving Adrien, but it sounds like she needs to rein him in a bit.

“Yes. It's certainly a change.” She manages to get that out but she knows her voice is giving away her discomfort. “I’ll miss it when we go back to Paris and normality.”

Adrien steps back to look her in the eyes, “You know you're already part of this family right?”

“I” she starts, thrown by this declaration and the warm feeling it creates in her, even as she's lost at what prompted this, “that's very sweet of you to say Adrien.”

“So you know things don't have to go back to normal when we go back to Paris.”

His meaning totally eludes her until she remembers that she’s literally dressing to go to dinner _with_ Adrien and his father together. And unaware of what _she’s_ actually doing for his father this week to his eyes it must look like she’s hardly worked. So she supposes it must almost look like she's here as a friend, or even family rather than a employee, but if he thinks that's going to continue when they get home, and that continuing that would somehow make Gabriel _less_ tightly wound then he's in for a nasty surprise when they get back.

“I think your father would disagree with you.” She tries to warn him.

He gives her a sceptical look. “I think you might be surprised.” Then in a total non-sequitur he adds “You should keep your hair down. I don't think I've ever seen it like that before.”

She considers, “That’s possible. Wearing it down for work wouldn’t be very professional.”

“Dinner isn’t really work though is it?”

“I suppose.” She concedes doubtfully. Knowing her luck if her luck if she keeps her hair down it’ll probably get caught on the beading of the dress.

There’s a knock at the door startling them both.

“It’s probably Gorilla telling me I need to go.” Adrien says, going to open the door.

It’s not.

“I found your note.” Gabriel’s duplicate says. “Not that I understood why you’re here.”

“Um.” Adrien says. “I’m helping Nathalie decide how to do her hair?”

“Did she ask for your help?”

“I did.” She lies. “None of this is my normal look. I’m a little lost, and Adrien’s has grown up immersed in the fashion world.”

“And _you_ didn’t think of asking the actual designer of the dress?”

Awkward as this conversation is at least it should go someway to lowering Adrien’s expectations again.

“I didn’t want to bother you,” She says, “Adrien was ready, and I knew he’d be happy to help. “

“Did you?” He asks.

“Well, he’s always trying to give me advice about it at home.” She says baffling even herself as to why she’s building up this intricate web of lies in front of something that isn’t even Gabriel.

“Does he? I didn’t realise we had a budding fashion critic in the house.”

Adrien cringes, but doesn’t attempt to say anything.

“Well, you should wear it down.” The replica says, “Though you might want to hurry up drying it off. We need to get down soon.”

She glances at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It’s later than she thought “Shoot. You’re right. I am so sorry sir. If you and Adrien want to leave I’ll rush through that.”

She’ll have to skip most of what she’d planned regards her make-up. Which is a real pity because it’s a gorgeous dress and she’d hoped to be able to do it some sort of justice.

“I think we can do better than that.” He says. “Go start on your hair.”

She does although she doesn’t know what he means by that. He gestures Adrien over and they both head into the bathroom in what she can only suppose is some odd idea of giving her privacy. 

It’s hard to hear through the handdryer but she swears she can hear Adrien and Gabriel having some sort of conversation in the bathroom.

She’ll have to rely on the sentimonster being well-made enough to continue to fool Adrien without her monitoring him the same way she does every night.

She gets an answer when her primer, foundation, mascara, a lipstick, an eyeliner pencil and an eyeshadow palette are deposited on her desk by a grinning Adrien.

Apparently neither of them have any respect for _her_ privacy. She almost hopes they came across feminine products when digging around in her wash-bag and that it was exceedingly awkward for both of them.

It’s not even the ones she would have chosen. The foundation’s a lighter coverage than she’s been using since the Peacock Miraculous took a toll on her, and the lipstick’s a reddish-pink that’s just slightly too light for her to really be happy with it.

Still distracted by that she doesn’t notice Gabriel’s followed Adrien out with brushes until he tilts her chin up, and reaches for the foundation.

“What are you doing?” She manages.

“Speeding things up. Now don’t speak. And don’t look so worried. I used to make up models myself all the time in the early days.”

She is really not reassured. Especially at how Adrien seems to be eyeing the eyeshadow with far too much excitement for someone who she’s fairly certain hasn’t applied anything more complicated than foundation and concealer to himself.

Nor is she really sure where this is coming from. She’s pretty sure having Gabriel do her make-up _isn’t_ some secret desire of hers, so why he’s doing this she doesn’t know.

They don’t the time to lose by making a fuss though.

Thankfully it turns out they don’t need to. Gabriel only lets Adrien do the mascara at the end, and he lets her do her own lips while he’s working on one eye.

She’s not sure whether it’s a skill he’s inherited from Gabriel or her own ability to do her make-up controlling him but it’s not bad at all. With the dark smoky eyes the lipstick no longer looks too light.

In fact, with her hair down and the dress and her makeup done so differently she almost doesn’t recognise herself. She’s no Emilie, but she does like she is with them, instead of just being their staff. The three of them in the mirror could be _her_ family.

Suddenly she can’t bear to look at the mirage it creates. “Come on, we need to go.”

* * *

He could still go.

It’s a long drive, and it’s late to leave now, but if he went first thing tomorrow he'd make it by the evening, and he'd have at least one full day there.

His alibi’s already been established, and he’s also established he’s not in any state to actually succeed if he stays here.

There nothing stopping him from going.

Nothing except his guilt.

If he goes hasn’t he already made the decision he doesn’t want to make?

* * *

“Hey,” Adrien says as they finish dinner, “You too should stay out.”

She shares a confused look with the sentimonster.

“What are you saying?” It asks Adrien.

“Nathalie’s all dressed up, the two of you should get to go do whatever adults do here, without me tagging alone.”

“Whatever adults do?”

“There’s a casino isn’t there? They look fun in films.”

“What sort of films are you watching?”

“Lots of films have casinos. I mean, I don’t know if there’s that glamourous in reality,”

“They’re not.” He interrupts perfectly Gabriel-like.

“But isn’t the whole point of being on holiday to do something different? We can sit around in the living room at home.”

They _could._ But they usually don’t. Not together. She’d have thought Adrien would try to maximise his chances of spending time with his father so she can’t work out where this is coming from at all.

If he wants it though, well, it seems like a very little thing to give him.

“I suppose we could out somewhere if you wanted Gabriel?”

“I don’t.” He says. “But I suppose am I trying to get more comfortable getting out of the house.”

Adrien beams, and she has to keep her horror off her face. She has no idea why she’s made it say that, when Gabriel’s not doing that at all. So much for not raising expectations.

She had thought a further chance to be publically seen not in Paris was a good idea but surely there was a better reason he could have given giving into Adrien’s suggestion?

* * *

If he went, he’d probably disappoint them.

The whole reason that photo of Adrien and the sentimonster had caught his eye is because his son doesn’t smile like that with him.

He’d never thought that odd before. He’d never been close to his own father either, and the idea _he_ could provide what Emilie could for Adrien is ridiculous.

Except apparently some simulacrum of him _could_ provide that for Adrien, and the whole point of it is that he’s supposed to act like him so he doesn’t understand how it happened.

So he’d clearly just fail to do so and end up not giving even Adrien one week of what he wanted.

Although. Nathalie’s been there. She’s seen what’s happened to lead up to that photo.

He _could_ theoretically ask her how to recreate it. She’d tell him. Or at least she’d tell him as much as she knows.

Nathalie carries her set of problems though. He’s been trying to convince himself he can hide everything he’s realised from her when she got back, and maybe he _could_ in the Atelier but being able to do so lying next to her on the beach with them both only in swimwear is a very different proposition.

He doesn’t want to make things awkward with her.

Really though, it's too late for that now.

Even if he never tells her, even if she never realises what’s happened and they go on trying to revive Emilie, their relationship can’t be the same after this.

Going is his best chance to know if this is something real or whether his time alone and his failures are just confusing him. Away from their workplace, somewhere she’s more relaxed and casual actually could be the perfect place to gauge his feelings, and perhaps _hers._

* * *

They get as far as the casino and both stop at the door.

“Maybe we should head back to the hotel.” She offers.

“That sounds like a good idea.” He agrees.

On their way back to the hotel they both start spontaneously laughing.

“Why did we think this was a good idea for _us_ ” She says, between giggles.

“I don’t know. Adrien made it sound like a good idea.”

“Adrien's an extrovert.”

“He _is_ , it’s all Emilie’s side.”

As they approach the entrance to their hotel she hesitates. “Should we just go to bed now?”

He looks as uncertain as she does which isn’t really a surprise. “I think Adrien would be disappointed if I turned up now. I doubt he’s asleep yet.”

“We could go to one of the bars here?”

“It’s a better idea than the casino at least.”

It _is_ a better idea than the casino.

It’s public still but they have their own table at least, and there’s a reasonable enough distance between them and anyone else.

The bar bill is going to be fun to explain to Gabriel when they get back but then hr's probably forgotten there are places where drinks _don’t_ cost this much, and he had said he wanted her to enjoy herself so it probably won’t be too bad.

And it's very easy to make conversation with something that thinks you've exactly as interesting as you'd like it to think.

* * *

Audrey Bourgeois is texting him.

Fantastic.

This is _not_ what he’d wanted when he’d hoped for something to take his mind off all of this.

He can’t think what it’s about. He'd sent over the samples they’d wanted for editorial for _Style Queen._

‘Tacky’ is all the message says.

Typical Audrey forgetting other people aren’t physic.

It’s only the memory of what he owes her, and of how much she could wreck his career even now that stops him from sending back a message full of question marks. He might not have much restraint but he does have some.

It’s unnecessary anyway.

‘Dating your secretary?’ Says her next message.

That’s not even Nathalie’s job title. She’s his executive assistant and frankly during his fugue state after Emilie was lost she'd done far more than that even. Audrey’s just trying to be maximally insulting.

‘People can see you in Bar Galerie.’

The whole point of this is to be seen. If Nathalie feels like having a few drinks in a bar, which she deserves, and he’s happy to pay for, and which he’d take her to himself if he had any inkling she liked that sort of thing, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Even if it’s yet another thing Gabriel wishes _he_ was doing with her and not this magic duplicate of him, despite the fact that’s he’s sure this is just another incident like that lunch where people were making totally unjustified assumptions.

It's hardly like Nathalie world allow anything else to happen.

It’s not her fault if apparently people are incapable of interpreting any male-female relationship as platonic.

It’s true that maybe _he’s_ not thinking of her just platonically anymore but it’s not as if anyone else should know that. _She_ shouldn’t know that. After all _he’d_ only realised that yesterday.

Even if his feelings might have started changing before that he can’t see how anyone else could

His phone beeps again. ‘Dress is good though. With that and the hair I almost wouldn’t recognise her.’

Now he’s just annoyed he doesn’t know what she’s wearing. Or how her hair is, but of course no one is going to send him pictures of himself. So he can’t know how different Nathalie truly looks. Whether she actually looks like a different person. A different version of herself who could actually be with this different version of himself he’s been imagining.

Then again, given Audrey often doesn’t recognise people she thinks of as unimportant maybe it doesn’t mean much.

‘Who have you got spying on me?’ He sends instead. He’s not sure if he should text Nathalie so the sentimonster doesn’t seem confused if one of Audrey’s minions come up to introduce themselves.

‘It’s not spying when you’re sitting in public flaunting it.’ He receives, followed by ‘one of the subeditors. You don’t know her.’

Hopefully she’ll leave Nathalie alone then. He hadn’t thought about how people would interpret her presence with him. Nathalie’s _always_ with him. Why people are suddenly taking that a different way he doesn’t know.

Once again he can’t help but wonder whether he’s still linked to the sentimonster created from his emotions, and if his changing feelings for Nathalie have affected how it acts. Oh Nathalie’s the one in control of it he knows that, but she doesn’t control every movement and action it makes individually. For all he knows it’s looking at Nathalie exactly the same way that _he_ would look at her if she was there.

That would certainly cause her the difficulty she was cagey about at the phone, and given she has no idea about the very unprofessional routes his thoughts are going down she might even be blaming herself for not creating it right.

That’s not fair. None of this is _her_ fault. Nathalie can’t help that she’s pretty, and that she looks after him so well, and that she’s the only person he can trust, and that really it’s quite natural he might want her once the idea’s been suggested to him.

She hadn’t even wanted this plan. Not that he could have foreseen this being one of the problems.

He realises too late that he never actually sent out a denial to Audrey.

 _That_ could be a problem.

He’ll have to clear up this misconception before Nathalie comes back, and hears anything about it herself.

A small voice in his head tells him he wouldn’t have to if he went down to Cannes and makes it true.

He resists the temptation to throw something else to shut it up. He’s damaged enough things in this house today.

* * *

On their way back to the room her heel catches on the bottom of a step, almost making her trip over, and definitely making her utter an expletive.

His arms catch her to steady her.

“Are you ok?” The duplicate asks.

“ _I'm_ fine. I doubt my shoe is.”

“Hmm,” He releases her and kneels down to inspect it. “the body of the heel is alright, it’s just the sole you’re caught and knocked off. We can get it re-heeled.”

“Well that’s something.” She goes to put her foot back down but he doesn’t release it for her to do so.

“You won’t be able to get it fixed if you walk on it.”

She shuts her eyes momentarily in frustration. “What do I do then, hop to my room?”

He let go and stood back up looking her up and down, “I could carry you maybe.”

“What?” She can’t stop herself from saying, “Not that distance you couldn’t.”

Maybe _he_ could. She doubts Gabriel could. Not untransformed anyway.

“And this dress is too short for that anyway.” She adds. Even if he could it would look ridiculous and make a spectacle out of them.

He considered “You can still put weight on the ball of your foot. Maybe if you put an arm around me, you could manage.”

She does try. She’s not a short women, and the non-broken shoe does have on does a lot to bridge their height difference, but it’s still uncomfortable. She can hang off him, but hanging off him and comfortably making the floor with the front of her foot and not the heel is another matter.

“You're too tall.” She huffs loosening her hold on him.

“I’ve been told.” He says. “Here let go of me.”

She does and he reaches under her far arm to support her, “Here if you put yours around me, I should be able to take most of your weight.”

It works. Badly, but well enough to get to the lift, where she gives up and collapses into him.

It’s there when she realises. “Why didn't we just call the concierge? We should have sat down there and they could have sent a someone up to my room for another pair or something?”

Technically _she_ probably doesn’t merit that type of service but the Agreste's suite has valet and butler service so given hers is on that tab, and what they’re paying, she doesn’t think it should be an issue.

She’d like to blame her not thinking of it on the man whose shoulder her head is curled in above, but in all fairness it’s probably the drink.

And it’s not as if the copy is going to think of anything she doesn’t. She needs to remember that. However much he acts like him he _doesn’t_ know everything Gabriel knows. Only what she knows Gabriel knows.

“I didn’t think of that.” He says confirming her thoughts.

For some reason the confusion on his face is hilarious and she starts to giggle, which sets him off laughing too. She can feel the rumbles of his laughter through his chest.

The lift bings as they reach her floor and she pulls away from him and hops out before they miss it and it moves on.

“Ok.” She shrugs.

“Ok?” He asks her back.

“You can carry me the rest of the way.”

She’s thought about it and it’s a totally reasonable distance for an untransformed Gabriel to be able to carry her.

“Right then” he says and his arm goes under her knees and scoops her up. It’s lucky they’re so practised at doing this as their alter egos.

She’d been pretty far gone before when he’d picked her up untransformed so she'd never really noticed but it turns up that Nathalie's head tucks just as well info Gabriel’s shoulder as Mayura’s tucks into Hawkmoth’s. Which doesn't really make sense given Hawkmoth’s extra height but honestly right now she'll take it.

It’s a pity she doesn’t get the chances to snuggle into him like this more often.

It’s a little awkward when she has to fumble in her clutch to get her room key out but he manages not to drop her, and safely deposit her on the bed.

As he stands over her she idly thinks this is probably exactly the situation she should be avoiding, but right now as he smiles down at her she doesn’t really care.

She _does_ sit up before anything can happen, and eases her shoes off. “I should get this dress off before anything else goes wrong.”

“I certainly don’t have any problem with that.” He says, with a glint in his eyes.

“Not like that!” She reprimands him, playfully swatting his arm. “I’m getting ready for bed.”

She grabs her pyjamas from under the pillow and moves to the bathroom for some privacy. “Goodnight Gabriel.”

She doesn’t know why she said his name. Not when there’s no one here to perform to. 

* * *

Really he knows _exactly_ what he wants to do.

Lying to himself about that seems increasingly pointless.

He should go.

The rest of it he can deal with later.

* * *

The dress zips down from the neck at the back, which is annoying but she has enough flexibility that zipping it up to the top hadn't been an issue earlier.

Now though she gets about a third of the way down and gets struck. The _zip_ is fine. It’s her bracelet that must have got caught on the back of the dress.

And she’s alone in this room to sort it out. Fantastic.

“Why is this my life.” She asks the universe.

“Nathalie? Are you ok?” he calls though the bathroom door.

Or apparently she’s not alone.

She opened the door with her free hand and found him sitting on her bed.

“You’re still here.”

“I rang the concierge to arrange for your shoe to be repaired.”

Right. Of course he did. Well, she hopes he's charged it to the Agrestes too. Gabriel will cover it.

“That seems upside down. I’m meant to be _your_ assistant.” She says.

He stares at her blankly.

Oh well. “I suppose that since you’re here you can help.” She turns around to show her back, “Untangle me?”

He stands up behind her and she’s suddenly very aware that he’s _right there_ even before he puts his hand on her wrist.

“How’d you do this?” He says.

“It's your fault. The dress is overbeaded.”

The tension goes from around her wrist, and then his hand leaves it too, and her arm can fall back to her side.

She goes to step away but before she can he pulls down her zip. “There.” He says sounding far too pleased with himself.

Her back is exposed to his gaze and she abruptly regrets pushing her hair out of the way and over her shoulder before she started trying to unzip herself as if that would make any real sort of shield. 

Something holds her in place even though her every instinct is telling her this is a very _very_ bad idea.

He steps closer to her, and takes hold of her other hand, and still she doesn’t move.

It’s only when his lips press to the back to her neck that she finally gets the impetus to move.

“Right. Well.” Her words come out in a panic. She takes a step away and spins around to hide her exposed back. “Thanks for your help. I can take it from here. You can go. I'm just going to,” She gestures to the bathroom.

She thinks he looks disappointed which is ridiculous. He doesn’t _have_ feelings.

She escapes to the bathroom anyway and locks herself in safely. Where unless her _conscious_ mind decides let him in, which it won't, then nothing can happen.

He knocks on the door. “Nathalie?”

“Yes?”

There’s a pause then, “Goodnight then. Sleep well.”

It sounds final enough but her hearts still going a mile a minute and she can’t convince herself he’s gone even when she hears the sound of her room door opening and shutting.


	4. Chapter 4

The bracelet isn’t on her wrist.

It takes her far too long to notice when she wakes up but once she does she knows the worst must have happened.

She’s the stupidest women in the world.

She’d asked the Sentimonster to untangle the very thing that maintained her control over him.

He must have undone the bracelet to do so and she, an actual idiot, hadn't noticed having been too distracted by his move with the zip and the kiss. Which would have been _after_ he’d taken the bracelet off her.

Oh god. That had been a _distraction_ hadn’t it, and it had worked; she'd been so wrapped up in her own issues about the fact that she’d wanted what was on offer, that she’d _made_ him make the offer that she hadn’t even noticed the missing bracelet.

She still looks everywhere in the room, her heart racing the whole time, because if there's the slightest chance that there isn’t something with its own wants and desires walking around with Gabriel’s face up there she'll take it.

She takes the duvet off the bed twice, hoping against hope that maybe it just fell off in the night, and she’d missed it the first time.

She opens every drawer despite the fact there’s no chance of it being there.

She looks under the bed, in her suitcase, in the bathroom, _everywhere._

All she manages to do is make herself overheat in her panicked rush.

The bracelet’s not anywhere.

Of course it’s not.

The Sentimonster could be _anywhere_ now.

Except.

If he wasn’t in the room surely she'd have heard from the others by now.

Unless he’s done something to Adrien and his bodyguard.

No. No he has not reason to hurt them. The Ladybug Sentimonster had turned on her when it got control of itself but she was its creator, and the actual Ladybug had been there to influence that decision, and it had literally been made to be a copy of one of Nathalie’s enemies.

The Gabriel Sentimonster has none of those reasons. He has no reason to hurt innocents like them.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if he’d turned on _her,_ resenting her control, but he'd had the chance last night and when given it all he’d tried to do was seduce her. Which was a hell of a way to throw her off her game but doesn’t really feel like a long term plan to stop her recalling the amok.

Which she could do. She should do. She would do if it wasn't for the fact she has no idea where he is or what he’s doing.

If he’s up there still pretending to the Gabriel for god knows what reason then she can’t just make him disappear in front of Adrien.

That would be impossible to explain.

There’s the other less disturbing but still concerning option. That maybe he didn’t go back to the room. It had been late when he’d left her. The others could have both already been asleep and not noticed he never came back.

And, well, there’s a lot of reasons, even if some of them are ones she doesn’t want to think about, as to why they might be hesitant to knock on his door this morning if he hasn’t made an appearance.

That doesn’t make it any easier to recall the amok though. If he’s in out in the world then the absolute last thing they need is for Gabriel Agreste to apparently disappear in front of people or cameras.

This is all her fault. How on earth she’s supposed to explain any of this to Gabriel she has no idea. There’s no version of the truth that casts her in a good light. Even if she can somehow hide that she didn’t realise what was going on because it distracted her by kissing her and she’d written that off as just more of the same because it had kept responding to her untoward desires all week, he’ll still hate her for threatening their identities and their chances of getting Emilie back.

What had made her think it was a good idea to go out with him she doesn’t know.

Adrien had suggested it, but it wasn’t as if they ever listened to him at home, so that’s not really an excuse.

Not that there was a _they_ then. No _she_ was the only one making decisions and she’d screwed up because she’d wanted one night where she could pretend to live out her fantasy of being an equal whom Gabriel might want before they reached the end of this story which only has multiple unhappy endings on offer for her.

She almost wishes the sentimonster _had_ attacked her, but losing the Peacock Miraculous is just about the only way last night could have gone worse.

Other than if she’d somehow been even more stupid and given in to his advances.

All she wants to do is sit here and cry over it all but she doesn’t have the time for that. She has to push that down to deal with later. She has to ignore how she feels like she’s going to throw up. She has to go upstairs and confront the situation.

She pushes herself up even though her limbs feel like they’re going to collapse below her. She’s pushed past the actual pain of the Peacock Miraculous. She handle a bit of shakiness and nausea.

* * *

Adrien opens the door. Despite her brief flare of relief that he’s fine, the smile falls off his face when he sees hers and he draws back from her. That small bit of relief clearly wasn’t enough to make her look any less stressed. Then again that's not surprising. Not when she knows running was the obvious thing for the Sentimonster to do.

“Where’s your father?” She asks on seeing the lack of anything Gabriel-shaped in the room.

“Um, he’s still in his room.” Adrien’s obvious confusion at her mood makes his answer sound almost like a question. She doesn’t have the time to reassure him though. Not when she doesn’t know what the Gabriel sentimonster might be getting up now it’s in possession of its own amok.

She just about manages to hold back from slamming the door to his bedroom open, and instead she opens it just enough to let herself in, in the hopes of hiding an empty room from Adrien for just that little bit longer.

It’s turns out not to be necessary than she’d thought because somehow, inexplicably, he’s there, and she doesn’t need to hide his disappearance from Adrien, and once she processes that fact she immediately locks the door.

She doesn’t need to hide his _disappearance_ but that still leaves a lot to hide.

God knows what Adrien must think but it’s far better than him walking in on their confrontation.

The sentimonster looks up from where he’s sat on the bed looking distinctly unruffled by her entrance. 

“Give it back.” She spits out. She can’t see him obviously wearing it but Gabriel had perfectly sized it for her wrist so she doubts it fits his. It must be in a pocket or something.

Thankfully he doesn’t bother playing the innocent and denying it. Instead he says, “Why should I?”

“I’ll transform.” She threatens him. “I’ll transform and destroy you.”

“You could.” He admits. “Wouldn’t that be rather inconvenient though? What will you tell Adrien? Wouldn’t it just be easier if we went ahead with the original plan?”

The lack of violence should reassure her, but she has no idea what to do with a sentimonster who wants to _talk_.

“With the original plan?” She asks, hoping that maybe it will give away its intentions.

“Yes.” He smirks, clearly amused, “I assume you remember it.”

She stares at her rebellious creation, “How can I trust you?”

“I’m Gabriel, aren’t I?” The sentimonster says, “I want what he wants.”

The memory of the Ladybug she’d created and destroyed can’t help but haunt their interaction. That had been a _Ladybug_ though and she’d made her to be the perfect partner for Chat Noir. She’s not sure really if a sentimonster with its own amok really does have free will in the traditional sense, or whether without Nathalie giving the directive to go after the Miraculous, it had just reverted back to what it was created to be without any conflicting orders.

If it’s latter then there’s nothing to worry about, or nothing to worry about in the short term anyway, what will happen when they return to Paris is a very different question.

If it’s the former then she has no idea what she’s dealing with.

A knock on the door interrupts them both.

“Come in.” The sentimonster calls, proving at least that he’s certainly inherited Gabriel’s ability to ignore all common sense to her detriment.

The handle rattles as either Adrien or his bodyguard attempts to open it.

Trapped by his invitation she goes to unlock it.

The door swings open to reveal Adrien. He looks between them in confusion. What conclusion he draws from her anger and his apparent father’s smugness she can’t even guess.

“So, I was hoping we could go to the beach today? But if the two of you are busy then Gorrilla could take me down by myself.”

“We’re not busy Adrien.” Gabriel’s copy says, “but perhaps we could wait until after breakfast? And I’m sure Nathalie will need to go get ready.”

She tries not to blush. She is _not_ being shamed by a bloody sentimonster for just throwing a sundress on over yesterday’s underwear. She was only planning to confront _him._ Not to actually go out.

“Your father’s right.” The lie in her statement feels even worse now she has no control over what the thing that Adrien thinks is his father might do. “I’ll change and get back here as soon as we can.”

She doesn’t want to let the sentimonster out of her sight for a moment, but what else can she do?

* * *

If she dumps her bag down on the sunbed with a little bit too much force, and deposits herself down with equal ill grace, well, Adrien already knows he’s in a mood.

Thankfully he spots his friend from the windsurfing class and runs over to great him.

“I still don’t trust you.” She tells the sentimonster.

“There was I hoping that your mood was just because you hate the beach.” He replies.

“I do also hate the beach,” even if this one has more advantages than most, but that they’re here is all his fault too.

“What was I supposed to do? Turn Adrien down?”

“You do that enough normally.” She snaps, but then she regrets it because, “Or you don’t do you? Because you’re not him.”

She _really_ needs to get better at drawing a line between them in her head, but it’s hard when he looks like Gabriel, and talks like Gabriel, and yes, even acts like Gabriel albeit Gabriel when he’s making an effort with his son, and is being concerned about him.

And of course he acts like a Gabriel that wants her. She should have recalled the amok that first night and told Adrien his father had been called back to Paris on urgent business or something. She should have realised she’d created it wrong, was totally incapable of being relied on to control it, and that the only option was to cancel the whole plan.

“You can think of me as him.” He offers. “I told you, I want what he wants.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She tells him, but then Adrien runs back over to tell them that he and his friend are going back down to where there’s more space on the beach to play volleyball, and they have to drop their conversation until he leaves again.

She gets the sun lotion out and starts applying it to her face. She didn’t have time in her hurry to dress earlier. At least they have the shade of the parasol but she doesn’t trust that to stop her burning. Not with her skin tone.

“Do you want me to do your back?” He offers, as if he has no idea what a stupid question that is.

“No.” She said flatly. She has no plans to lose her kaftan today.

“You let me before.”

“That was different. You weren’t,” she gestured aimlessly with her hand unsure what word she should even use, sentient? A person? Alive? In control? “You know.”

He turns exactly the same imploring eyes on her Gabriel does when she tells him he can’t do something he wants. They’re not eyes that belong in a middle-aged man’s face.

“It’s not you.” She finds herself saying. “I wouldn’t let him do it either.”

Her reasons wouldn’t be quite the same, she doesn’t feel the need to go into it, and if she’s honest there’s a surprising amount of overlap.

That seems to mollify him slightly and she tries to remind herself she shouldn’t care about the emotions of something that’s just a manifestation of an emotion. Then she has to remind herself that she does have to because she’s reliant on him not to expose them all to the world.

“Why are you so bothered anyway?” She asks.

“Can’t I be worried about my assistant getting sunburnt?”

“I’m not your assistant.” She points out. It’s an odd realisation. Even when she was controlling him their dynamic never felt that different from hers with Gabriel. She supposes it’s because he has all of Gabriel’s mannerisms.

He frowns. “I think of you as my assistant.”

She turns to look at him better, “Is that what all of this is about? Some sort of role-reversal? Because you’re blackmailing me to obey _you_ now?”

“I’m not blackmailing you.”

She can’t stop her eyebrows raising.

“I told you. We want the same thing.” He sounds certain. So she supposes he’s at least as oblivious as Gabriel that maybe she might not want the same thing he does.

He leans over to take her hand. “I hope you’ll continue to assist me, but all I meant is that I think of you as he does, as my assistant.”

“Right.” How lovely to have her place in Gabriel’s life re-confirmed to her.

“And as my friend.” He adds.

How much of him does come from Gabriel she wonders, and how much of him comes from her perception of him. What’s between her and Gabriel-well, it’s not professional, and he trusts her, and cares somewhat for her, but she doesn’t know that he’d ever verbalise calling her a friend. It’s her job to make his life easier, and sometimes she thinks he’s just so used to her doing that that it never occurred to him _not_ to expect her to do the same with his quest to revive Emilie.

As for the man actually if front of her, _him_ she wants to tell that she’s not his friend. That she has no interest in being his friend. That she can’t be his friend when she’s the one person that can destroy him. The person who’s going to have to do that when they get back to Paris.

He doesn’t seem to have realised that with his constant claims that he and Gabriel have the same aims.

She can’t tell him that when she’s reliant on him not turning on her for the next few days.

She can’t tell him that because it would be cruel.

Thankfully he doesn’t seem to expect any reply.

Her phone goes, and he lets her go to answer it.

It’s Gabriel. The _real_ Gabriel. “All OK?” it reads.

She can’t help looking at the person mimicking him over at her side.

In the end she does whatever she does when she’s protecting Gabriel from the repercussions of his actions. She lies.

A single “Yes” suffices at as her reply.

She’s not sure which Gabriel she’s protecting.

* * *

Gabriel hasn’t texted her back.

There’s no reason he would. It’s not as if she sent a text that expected a response

And yet, the silence still makes her feel uncomfortable.

‘All ok ur end?’ She types out.

It’s not a totally unprompted question. There have been far less Akumas than she expected. She’d thought Gabriel would take this time with an alibi to barrage Paris, and yes, the two in a row the last two days were unusual but that’s still only two days out of four.

How she feels about that she’s not sure. She’s wanted to be the one to win it for him, and she’d been worried about his safety doing it without her but mostly she just wants it to be done. If he’d won without her there he still would have won and all of this would be over.

Hopefully he's at least using the free time to catch up on sleep and work. It’s not as if any calls are being put through to the office without her.

He’s clearly not asleep now because her phone beeps almost immediately with “Fine.”

* * *

“Do you want a drink or anything?” He asks her.

“No.” She says bluntly, done with these little games they’ve been playing. Then she remembers how dependant she is on him, and that that means she ought to be nicer, and adds “No, thank you. I'm fine right now.”

“You’re still cross at me.”

She could lie but even Gabriel would see through it. “What do you want me to say? You didn’t see the panic I was in this morning. I had no idea what you might do.”

“I’ve told you, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Well I had no way of knowing that.” She sighs. “It’s myself I’m cross at really. I can’t really blame you.”

She’d been the one to make him touch the bracelet. If not for that he’d never have had this taste of not being under her control.

“Nathalie,” He starts then sighs himself, “Just try to relax. We can pull this off. Everything’s going to be fine.”

She can’t stop the snort that escapes her. “Fine. Sure.”

* * *

At some point Adrien reappears without his friend.

“I'm going to head down to the sea. Did either of you two want to come?”

He’s phrased it like an offer but she can see that really it’s a request. Not that it’s really her he wants to go with him. Or the Sentimonster really but then he doesn’t know that.

“I’m not doing anything else.” Gabriel’s copy concedes, “Nathalie?”

It takes her a moment to respond. She hadn’t expected to be asked again. “I’m not really a sea person. You two go ahead.”

Aside from anything else going in the sea means taking off her kaftan and being exposed in her bikini, and that’s the _last_ thing she wants given what happened last night.

Oddly Adrien seems disappointed. “You can’t come to the coast and not go in the sea at all.”

She could.

“Someone needs to look after our stuff.” She points out.

“Come on Adrien.” The Sentimonster says standing up. “Let her stay here if that’s what she wants.”

Adrien sags a little but obediently follows.

Watching them walk down the beach she can almost fool herself into thinking she’s watching Adrien with his father.

Her body tenses almost before her conscious mind catches up. Adrien' _not_ with his father. Adrien’s with someone whose intentions she doesn’t actually know at all. He claims he wants the same things as Gabriel but she has no proof of that.

She doesn’t know if Adrien's safe with him.

Nothing had happened between him leaving her room, and her arriving at their suite the next day but what if he was just biding his time?

She runs after them uncaring of what it must look like. She’s failed in so many other ways but she’s not going to fail at keeping Adrien safe.

They’re almost at the shoreline when she catches up to them.

“You came!” Adrien smiles.

She tries for nonchalant but fails given she’s still catching her breath from running. “You’re right. It would be a pity not to go in the sea at all.”

At his grin and at the sentimonster's amusement she feels the need to clarify.

“I’m not going to swim though. Just paddle.”

* * *

Watching them from her viewpoint in the shallows Nathalie has to wonder if she overreacted.

He doing a good job at least of seeming like Gabriel with Adrien. It reminds her of an afternoon the family had had free after one of Emilie’s photoshoots, where at Emilie’s suggestion they'd gone down to the beach pop-up on the Seine. Gabriel all mindful of his dignity and fretting about hygiene but willing to be convinced.

Adrien gives her a wave and she waves back.

He says something to what he thinks is his father and they both look over at her then away.

For a moment she remembers that first day at the pool and has a frightful premonition of being dragged further into the sea, but then not-Gabriel shakes his head and Adrien shrugs and she senses the danger has passed.

* * *

Sat back in the loungers the Sentimonster announces, “I’m going to go order us some lunch.”

“Um, Nathalie?” Adrien asks once the rogue duplicate leaves. “Did something happen between you and my father?”

“No.” She says too exhausted to risk trapping herself in a more elaborate lie. Every so often Adrien _can_ be perceptive, and now is the absolute worst time for him to start asking questions.

She can see the exact moment he decides to push it, and she rues the day she hoped school would improve his confidence. “It’s just things feel sort of awkward, and you seemed pretty upset this morning?”

“Everything’s fine. Really. You shouldn’t worry about anything.”

“I mean if you’re sure, it’s just, my father can be a bit” Adrien hesitated clearly looking for a polite word.

“Abrupt?” She offered.

“That works. So I mean if he said something insulting or something I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that.”

Oh that poor sweet boy. “I don’t think you should be the one saying that to me.”

“I mean, I know I can’t apologise for him, but I just want everything to be ok.”

“You don’t need to apologise for him. I told you, everything’s fine.”

“If you’re sure.” Adrien says still looking unsatisfied, “It’s just I don’t want you to resign or anything.”

“Resign?” She laughs. “There’s no danger of that.” If she had the sense to do that she would have done it when Gabriel told her about Hawkmoth.

Adrien finally looks reassured just as she realises what a mistake she’s made. If Gabriel finds out what’s happened it’s actually quite possible he might fire her. He’s so devoted to Emilie he'd be disgusted by what she’d done. She probably should have warned Adrien she might end up gone from his life.

She can’t find it in herself to unsettle him now though.

She'll try to give him some warning later. It'll have to be before they get back to Paris and Gabriel, but it can wait a little time.

* * *

She hovers in the corner of the balcony while Adrien talks to the replica of his father.

“So I was talking to one of the hotel staff. And they said I can practise on the piano in one of the function rooms this evening. So I was wondering if you minded if I went?”

“That’s very conscientious of you. I don’t see why not so long as you take your bodyguard, and you’re back here in time for dinner.”

“Thanks father.” Adrien says and throws his arms around him to hug him. The copy stills for a moment and then hugs back exactly the way she’s seen Gabriel do.

“Practice hard.” He tells him.

“Have fun, Adrien.” She says. It feels inadequate. She wants to join the hug he’s having with the man he thinks is his father, but that would be inappropriate. Once again she reminds herself that _she's_ not his mother.

Nor is he actually in the arms of his father.

All of this is so messed up.

The Sentimonster watches Adrien go with fondness in his eyes.

“You care about him.” She realises.

“Obviously.”

It doesn’t seem obvious to her. The Ladybug copy certainly hadn’t followed the purpose she was created for, she doesn’t understand why this Gabriel one is so invested in their plans without her controlling him.

She wants to ask why, but saying anything that might make him question that seems like a bad idea. For this to work, for her to be able to trust him, she needs him to continue to think of himself as another Gabriel.

“I think he’s left us alone to make up.” He says.

“What?”

“He asked me earlier if we’d had some sort of argument. I told him we hadn’t, and not to pry but I don’t think he really took that on board.”

“He didn’t.” She tells him, “He asked me too.”

“You didn’t say anything?”

“What could I possibly tell him?”

“Not the truth certainly, but I suppose it’s lucky neither of us came up with too long a lie to be caught in.”

“I can’t believe he asked both of us.” Nathalie marvels, “I never thought of him as sly.”

“He is stubborn though. I’d like to be blame it on Emilie, but it’s probably me.” His face twists on the final word and despite everything she knows Nathalie can’t help but sympathise with him.

It’s hard for her to remember he’s not Gabriel. It must be harder for him.

“I’m sorry.” She offers.

“Nothing to be done about it I suppose.” He sighs. “I think of him as mine, you know?”

“That’s my fault.”

He puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You were doing what you needed to do. It _was_ a good plan.”

It’s a dangerous question to ask when she should be trying to discourage him from thinking about what he is, and what that means for him, but she recklessly asks anyway. “What’s Gabriel to you then, your twin? Your father?”

“I’m not sure actually.” He says, “It’s strange to think about.”

A cold slick feeling coils in her insides, “I suppose in a way the two of us are your parents.”

That’s an uncomfortable thought. It fits. She the one who creates the senrimonsters and guides them through their lives. That’s a parent isn’t it?

She can almost place herself in that position regards the Ladybug, but she was a teenage girl, who by appearance alone _could_ have been related to Nathalie even if she’d have had to be very young when she’d had her.

But with this Gabriel it’s just unimaginable. He's an adult man, he's older than her, he _looks like the boss she’d in love with._

And if makes everything that’s happened so _much_ more wrong.

Even with the Ladybug that makes her a filicide. Mother’s that kill their children are rightfully some of the most reviled people on the earth.

And with this Gabriel it’s even worse than that. She’d used him to act out some sick fantasy of his progenitor like some sort of sexual abuser. She’s somehow _still_ attracted to him.

He looks as disgusted at the idea as she does, “You’re not my mother.”

“I don’t want to be. Trust me.”

“You’re _not._ We’re not related, we don’t have that sort of relationship, and neither of us thinks of each other that way at all.”

Yes, he’d already told her how he’s thinks of her, but something occurs to her, “How do you know what I think of you?”

“I was responding to what you wanted until yesterday night wasn’t I?”

“I suppose” She admits but that reminder didn’t really reassure her. Besides those had been more her feelings about Gabriel than about _him_.

She wishes she had an actual name for him. Thinking of him as the sentimonster would probably be the sensible thing to do but it feels awkward and unwieldly.

“You should keep me when we go back to Paris.”

“What?” comes out of her mouth before she can stop it and deny that she had any plans to do otherwise. She might not know how real a person a sentimonster with their own amokatised object is but the instinctual drive to live pretty universal to everything on the planet, telling him she plans to dispell him sounds like a pretty good way to make him turn against her.

“I know this was meant to be temporary. Don’t pretend it wasn’t.”

She gives up. “I won’t then. What are you suggesting?”

“Think about it, think about how much more we could get done with two Gabriels around. He’d have so much free time to akumatise people, while _I_ dealt with the brand, and Adrien, and being a permanent alibi being seen in public during akuma attacks.”

“Do you _like_ being out and around people then?” She asks trying to tease out the distinctions between him and Gabriel.

“No. I might be better at it than he is, but no. For something this important though, there’s not much I wouldn’t do.”

Obviously he’d be just as unable to let Emilie go as Gabriel was. She doesn’t know why she’s surprised. He’s spent the whole day telling her he wants what Gabriel wants.

“I see.” She says, “I can’t deny an extra Gabriel would be helpful.”

“Just think of all the meetings you wouldn’t have to cancel for akuma attacks.”

“That’s true.” She concedes though it’s more to placate him, than because she really feels like it’s a good idea. “We’d have to hide there being two versions of his father running around from Adrien though.”

“You’ve hidden Hawkmoth and Mayura haven’t you?”

“We have.” She admits. Though it had been easier when she hadn’t be a participant in the attacks and had instead been in the Atelier to forestall anyone, Adrien included, looking for Gabriel.

There’s advantages to the idea but there’s dangers too, and he’s forgetting they’d have to convince Gabriel of this outlandish plan.

“And think about what it means when we win.” He says.

“What do you mean?” She asks in confusion. Winning would take away his whole reason for existence. He _must_ know that.

“You want him.” He points out.

“I,” He knows that, and she knows he knows, and yet confessing to _a_ Gabriel still feels impossible, “I want him to be happy.”

It's not a lie.

“I know that, but it’s not all of your feelings for him, is it?”

“It’s the most important part.” The most _relevant_ part. “What does it matter?”

“It matters because then when we win and _he_ has Emilie back, you can have _me._ ”

“I _what?”_

Her eyes are drawn to her wrist as if the bracelet is still going to be on there and that would explain where this conversation has just gone.

Still feeling like the floor beneath has disappeared she asks, “Why would you say that? Why would you think I’d want that?”

“You want him. The two of us are the same.”

That’s the thing though. She’s really starting to think that they’re not. Gabriel’s said a lot of things he’s not thought through in his time but he’d never say this. So much for wanting what Gabriel wants.

While she’s still trying to make sense of it all, a possible explanation for all of this occurs to her, “Are you trying to bribe me?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Is it working?”

This whole situation is _wrong,_ but the idea of him faking a relationship with her, for her, so she doesn’t recall his amok is even more so. It feels worse than just the action of recalling it would be.

“Please don’t.” She says.

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t have to do that.”

“I shouldn’t have to?” His brow creases in confusion. “Ah. I see the issue. Nathalie I wasn’t offering anything I don’t want myself.”

“You want me?” She asks. She still can’t understand. That should be impossible. That doesn’t make any sense.

“Yes.”

Slowly her memories start to rearrange to make a different picture. “Then, last night, what happened wasn’t just a distraction?”

“I hadn’t meant to do anything more than undo your zip, but then suddenly I _could_ do whatever I wanted, and you provided quite the temptation.”

“I don’t understand. You’re supposed to be Gabriel and he certainly isn’t interested. Did _I_ make you like this somehow?”

That’s all she can think of. That instead of making a sentimonster of Gabriel, she’d made one of the Gabriel she wanted. One ready to move on from Emilie, and capable of seeing her.

It’s not just her. All those little bits that didn’t seem like Gabriel, when he’d let Adrien go off with his friend, and spent time with his son, and said he was trying to get out of the house more. She’d thought all of that had been him following her will, but maybe it wasn’t direct commands from her causing it at all. Maybe it had been in his original creation that she’d made him Gabriel-As-She-Wanted, rather than Gabriel-As-Is.

Not that that exactly explains why he still does. They should have researched this more before making another one of these far-too-human copies.

“Does it matter?” He says.

He’s hiding something. He might have different emotions to Gabriel but he expresses them just the same way, and she can tell when Gabriel’s hiding something from her.

What he’s hiding though is something she can’t tell. He must have some better idea about where his feelings come from than she does, and clearly whatever the answer is she wouldn’t like it.

“Think about it Nathalie. We could have a _life._ The two of us together. We could live in your apartment, and I could get a job. We’d be a family of our own. Nathalie and Gabriel.”

He’s convincing. She’s give him that much. That he _does_ get from Gabriel.

“You couldn’t be Gabriel. Not if that was somehow going to work.” She points out, “You’d have to be, I don’t know, Michel or something.”

“Michel?” He asks looking like he’s sucking on a lemon.

“I don’t know. I was running with the theme I guess. Archangels.”

“I don’t like it, but if that’s the price I have to pay, I suppose I have to.”

His hand reaches up to the side of her face. “We could do it. All you have to do is say yes.”

For a moment she lets herself imagine the world he's painting for her. Gabriel and Emilie happy together in the Agreste Mansion, and she and Michel or whatever name he chooses in her apartment.

The image is incongruous. Gabriel’s never been in her apartment. It’s the one part of her life that’s has nothing to do with him.

It’s not Gabriel she’s imaging there though. 

It’s impossible though. Logistically just trying to imagine how they’d explain his appearance and create an actual legal identity for him makes her head hurt. She doesn’t even know if he’d age like a real person.

And even if they could somehow pull it off and there was nothing to give away his origin she’d still be the person apparently dating someone who looked identical to her boss. Or ex-boss. She supposes she’d have to resign in this scenario for her own sanity. Still, how would it look?

Worse. What would it actually say about her?

She’d be someone so incapable of having a relationship with a different person that she had to create a romantic partner out of magic.

One which it’s quite possible she actually created to be in love with her.

No, she can’t take what he’s offering.

And she couldn’t even if she wanted to. He’s presupposing a future where they get Emilie back _and_ somehow she’s still alive too.

Unless he sees something Gabriel knows and she doesn’t that seems unlikely to her.

Though in fairness to him she’s not sure Gabriel’s realised that yet.

It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that what he’s offering can’t happen, not why it can’t happen.

He must only see her hesitance and not her decision though, because his second hand has followed his other one up to cradle her face, and she thinks he must have moved closer somehow, because there’s barely any space between their bodies now.

Abruptly she realises how hemmed in she is with the wall behind her and to one side, and him in front of her, and a shock of fear goes through her. She _knows_ these creations can turn on their creators. If she turns him down, there’s no reason to believe he’ll take it well.

“What exactly is going on here?” Gabriel’s voice breaks the silence.

Both their heads turn in the direction of the sound. It’s impossible. Gabriel can’t be here. He’s in Paris.

Except apparently he’s here. Standing in the doorway to the terrace with a thunderous expression on his face.

Which, of course he has. He’s just found her, and a copy of himself that she’s supposed to be controlling standing together far too close together, probably looking for all the world like they’re about to kiss.

“It’s not what it looks like.” She yelps and finally pushes the Sentimonster away. “He has the bracelet. I’m not controlling him now.”

“What?” Gabriel barks reaching for his brooch. “You,” he points at the Sentimonster, “Step away from her.”

He obeys and steps away with his hands up in surrender and Nathalie finds herself able to release a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you thought Gabriel was the only one to have a Bad Day in this fic.  
> I promise we're back to dual PoV next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Nathalie’s not transforming. _Why is Nathalie not transforming?_

It makes no sense. He could feel her fear through his Miraculous, so he doesn’t understand why she isn’t taking the chance now it’s released her to transform and dismiss it.

Instead she’s stood there apparently frozen, but Nathalie doesn’t freeze. He’s never seen her freeze. Not as Nathalie or Mayura. Feeling her fear when he got to the room, only to find her trapped by like him by what looked like him was bad enough. Knowing that it making advances on her, because it shares _his_ feelings, has the ability to affect her in a way he’s never seen before is even worse.

Even that shock of fright he’d felt was something different. Nathalie keeps such a tight lid on her emotions he rarely picks up on them, and he’s seen her fight the heroes apparently fearlessly but this mockery of him has her scared.

He’s never wanted to hurt her, and he knows he’s already failed at that, but that something generated from his emotions has scared her like this is a punch to the gut.

How all of this can have gone so wrong he has no idea but it’s starting to feel like she’s the one bearing the brunt of all his failed plans. First being driven to us the Peacock Miraculous and now this.

There’s no time for him to brood on his feelings though. If she doesn’t do something soon they’re going to lose their advantage.

He tries to catch her attention silently and break her out of whatever’s stopping her from moving but while she obviously picks up that he’s trying to prompt her to do _something_ she misinterprets it and, after a panicked look at the sentimonster, starts to slowly edge away from it before running the final few steps towards him.

Of all the times for her usual, and he now realises undervalued, ability to guess what he’s thinking to abandon her he doesn’t understand why it has to be now.

Seeing her safely away from that thing is a relief, but she won’t be safe until it’s _gone._

At least he's able to put a protective arm around her.

She doesn’t fight his hold, and he’s takes some relief in the fact that whatever the sentimonster _has_ done, or was trying to do to her it doesn’t seem to have tarnished her view of him.

“Do you not have your Miraculous?” He murmurs to her, his eyes still stuck on the sentimonster across the terrace.

She startles. “My Miraculous? It’s in my bag inside.”

He supposes she couldn’t obviously wear it all the time but he still doesn’t like that she doesn't have it. Ironic really when before he’d spent so much time before trying to keep it away from her.

“In the sitting room?”

“Yes.”

He takes a step back through the door pulling her with him, only releasing her when they’re safely inside so he can find the bag.

“Here.” He passes it to Nathalie. “Transform, and you can get rid of it. You don’t need the bracelet for that.”

Nathalie takes it from him and there’s none of the triumph on her face he expects. “Gabriel,” She exhales shakily, and for a moment he thinks she’s going to break into tears.

“Don’t do it.” A voice says that sounds uncannily like him.

He twists around towards it to find the sentimonter has followed them in and curses himself for not having locked the door.

It keeps talking. “You know you don’t have to. We can still have what we talked about. I know it’s not how you’d have wanted to tell him, but this doesn’t change anything.”

* * *

“Tell me what?” Gabriel says. 

Loath as she is to admit _anything_ of this to Gabriel Nathalie forces herself to speak before his duplicate can make the situation even worse, “He wants to help. To come back to Paris with us, and help us defeat the heroes. To give you a way to fully devote yourself to being Hawkmoth.”

The sentimonster moves as if to speak and she gives him a sharp shake of her head. There’s no reason for Gabriel to hear the rest of it. If he did then he’d probably take the bag back and use the Peacock Miraculous himself, and while she can’t give the sentimonster what he wants, that doesn’t mean she’d be comfortable letting him be destroyed either.

“What?” Gabriel looks as lost as she felt when she confronted his copy this morning and didn’t get the threats she expected. “That’s not like what it looked like outside.”

“He got a little enthusiastic trying to convince me.” She tries to explain suddenly unsure what the right thing is to say. Somehow, impossibly, it seems like Gabriel hasn’t realised what he walked in on and she might still be able to salvage this.

The sentimonster’s staring at her with the same inscrutable look Gabriel casts on her sometimes but then the side of his mouth quirks up in the beginning of a smile. “You don’t have to worry about Nathalie’s safety with me.” He says.

“Don’t I?” Gabriel says, “She was frightened out there. I felt that through the Miraculous. And you want me to let you into my _home_?”

His concern for her is touching, and it only makes her feel worse about everything that’s happened. He wouldn’t care about her being upset if he knew what’s been happening here.

“What? No she wasn’t,” He looks away from Gabriel and to her, “Why would you be scared? You wanted what I was offering. I know you did.”

She has to tell him. She has her Miraculous now, and Gabriel’s here with his, and however appalled he might be when he realises what they’re talking about she trusts him to have her back against the sentimonster.

Afterwards will be a different matter, but she can’t let herself think about that now.

“I can’t give you what you want. I was afraid to tell you.”

The corners of his lips collapse downwards. “Which part of it?”

“The part that’s up to me. The rest of it’s Gabriel’s decision.” That should be clear enough. If she has to have any more of this conversation then she doesn’t want to do it with Gabriel here. Except she needs Gabriel here to give her the confidence and clarity to have this conversation.

“I don’t understand.” He says, and he looks unnervingly like Adrien had after Gabriel had pulled him out of school for a moment.

“It wouldn’t work. Don’t make me say more. Not in front of him.” She begs him.

“I don’t understand either.” Gabriel says. “What are you trying to keep from me?”

“I love Nathalie.” The sentimonster declares.

It shouldn’t be a surprise after everything he’d said earlier but hearing it hurts more than she’d expected. Hearing it from someone who looks like Gabriel, but who isn’t, and instead is someone she knows it could never actually work out with.

“I want a life with her once all of this is done with.” He adds.

If only there was some convenient hole in the ground she could go and bury herself in and preferably never come out. From the heat on her face she must look more like a tomato than a person right now.

She’d better treasure the memory of Gabriel’s arm around her a few minutes ago because that’s never going to happen again.

“I’m sorry sir.” She starts, but Gabriel doesn’t let her finish.

“No.” He interrupts, looking as angry as she’s ever seen him.

“No?” She asks in trepidation. She can understand him refusing her apology, had expected it even, but she’d also expected more than just a single No.

“Not you.” He says dismissively. “Him.” He takes a step closer to the sentimonster. “You want to usurp _my_ life, and relegate me to the attic as Hawkmoth, and now you want Nathalie too? No. No I won’t let you.”

“I don’t think that’s your decision. It’s hers.”

“And she said no.”

It feels like the air in the room has gone static, and the slightest provocation could spark something. Watching the two of them she’s not sure which of them she thinks more likely to throw the first punch but right now she doesn’t trust either of them not to.

“Stop it. Please. We can talk this out like reasonable adults can’t we?” She begs.

“I can’t see anything reasonable in this situation.” Gabriel says turning towards her, “Why didn’t you tell me what had happened?”

Scrambling for a defence she finds herself saying, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

She still doesn’t know _why_ or _how_ he can be here.

Maybe if she’d known this morning she would have been able to dismiss the sentimonster. She could have told Adrien his father wasn’t feeling well or something, and avoided this whole day, and how it has made it harder and harder for her not to view her creation as a person.

* * *

“I wanted to surprise you.” He says weakly.

That’s not exactly it. Though he _had_ taken pleasure in the idea of her face when he turned up. Another thing the sentimonster had taken from him.

Telling her on the phone had seemed impossible when he didn’t know what he wanted to say to her, and he needed to see her in person before he could truly know what his feelings were.

Instead he’d drafted tens of short brief texts just saying he was coming but not one of them had felt right.

He couldn’t have known he was driving down to _this._ If he’d known he would have let her know. He would have come faster. God he would have akumatised himself to get there.

Nathalie seems to accept this though, because her next question is just, “How did you even get here?” 

“I drove.” It’s not as if there was any other option. He would have been seen by travelling by train or plane, but anyone could be driving the car.

Nathalie’s eyes widen and her grip on her bag tightens. “You _drove_. You _drove here from Paris._ Oh my god. You could have died. You could have hit something or someone.”

That feels faintly insulting. “I can drive, you know.”

“You haven’t driven yourself in years. _I_ drive you.”

They’re getting off topic. Though he can’t pretend he doesn’t enjoy the jealously on the sentimonster’s face as Nathalie worries over him. He hopes the thing is taking it on board that she’s _Gabriel’s_ Nathalie, not his.

That same satisfaction makes him walk over to her, and put a hopefully reassuring hand on her shoulder, “I’m here. It was fine. You don’t need to worry.”

Her eyes dart to his hand on her shoulder. “What happened to your hand?”

“Caught it on a sharp edge. It’s only a little cut.” He says completely excluding the context. Nathalie doesn’t need to know about the damage he’d done in the Atelier and why.

She purses her lips, but doesn’t say anything. 

“That was idiotic.” The sentimonster says breaking the connection between them as both their heads turn to look him. “You’ve put this whole enterprise in danger. The point was for you to be out of sight in Paris. How do we explain the appearance of the car? What if Adrien had been here? How would we have explained _your_ appearance?”

Never mind using the Peacock Miraculous. Right now he wants to strangle the sentimonster with his own hands.

It had been bad enough seeing him here with Nathalie and Adrien, but he’s never going to be able to get that image of it saying “I love Nathalie” out of his head.

He hasn’t even had time to clarify his feelings for Nathalie. He desires her, and he cares for her, and apparently he falls to pieces without her, but he’s not ready to say he’s in love with her yet and then that creature stole the words out of his mouth before he could even prepare to say them.

It makes him curter than he would have otherwise been. “I took precautions.”

It’s not like it’s difficult. He just told reception that he’d forgotten his room key, and did they know if the others were up there, and they’d told him Adrien was down practising piano and they’d given him a spare. Then he’d explained he’d had one of his staff drive his car down, and could they sort out parking.

“I see. Precautions.” It scoffs right back at him.

It’s infuriating getting his own dismissal turned back at him. He would wonder if this is how it feels for people he speaks to but a good part of the problem is that it’s coming from what looks like himself.

And a version of himself that reproaches him for not spending time with his family, and for not noticing Nathalie before he pulled her into all of this mess, at that.

It _can’t_ come back to Paris with them. Nathalie had rejected it but with it constantly there trying to convince her can he trust that she won’t change her mind? That other people won’t prefer it to him too? That if given the option even Adrien might chose it over him?

No. This thing needs to go, and he needs to know why Nathalie hasn’t already got rid of it. She’d rejected it (and he’s purposely not thinking about whether she was rejecting it or him), but she hasn’t dismissed it.

There has to be a reason. Her earlier fear can’t be enough. Not when he’s here with his Miraculous and the two of them could take it in any fight.

She’d _defended_ it earlier. Tried to make its mad proposition sound sensible.

_Why._

* * *

“I don’t have to justify myself to you.” Gabriel dismisses the sentimonster, though she thinks it’s lacking some of its normal power, “You should be the one explaining yourself to me. What happened here?”

She pales. Gabriel’s hand is still on her shoulder and he must feel her stiffen under it.

This is it.

Somehow nothing that’s been said so far in his conversation has been the final blow to their relationship, but this has to be it. This has to be the last time he’s going to touch her like this. Look at her without disgust in her eyes.

The sentimonster must know it too. “It wasn’t her fault.”

It _was_ though. He was under her control when he took the bracelet off her. It’s all her fault.

“It was.” She whispers.

“What?” Gabriel says, breaking his stare on his copy to look at her.

She reaches up with her other hand and takes his hand off her shoulder before he can pull it away from her when he knows. He lets her, but before she can release him, his fingers curl around the tips of hers. She forces herself to pull them away despite the hurt in his eyes she can see it causes. This had to be the better way. She can’t tell him what she’s about to holding his hand like she has any right to do that.

“It was.” She manages at a more reasonable volume, trying to talk past the sudden constriction in her throat. “It was my fault. I was drunk. That’s not an excuse I know, I should never have gone to that bar with him, I don’t know _why_ I did that, but that’s the only reason I can give for what happened.”

Gabriel’s staring at her in what looks like horror. “What happened?”

“The bracelet got caught on my dress, um, the beaded one you gave me, when I was trying to unzip it. I stupidly asked him to help and didn’t think about what I was doing.”

“Where were you?”

“What?” How _that_ can be his concern she doesn’t know, “In my room. I wasn’t going to take the dress off in public.”

“It _was in your room?”_

“Oh.” She realises too late the implications of that, “Not like _that_. The heel on my shoe broke downstairs, and he helped me up to it.”

“Of course.” Gabriel says. Oddly now _he’s_ blushing. It’s an unusual sight. She hasn’t seen it in years. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken it like that. That was insulting of me.”

If she’d thought she felt bad earlier now she feels even worse. How Gabriel can have found her in an admittedly one sided embrace with the duplicate of him she created, and heard said creation process his love for her, and _still_ not seem to understand what that means she can’t comprehend.

He’ll work it out eventually though. He has to.

“Could you not get it back from him then?” He asks obviously confused at her silence in response to his apology.

“I didn’t realise.” She admits.

She can see the question forming itself in his mind but the other one of him speaks first. “That _was_ my fault.”

She doesn’t have it in her to contest that like she did his earlier claim. She might have noticed without his actions. It probably still is her fault because she’s the one who made him like this but it’s true his actions weren’t under her direct command at that point.

“I see. You purposely distracted her?” Gabriel asks his twin, venom in his voice.

“Since when have we been ones to think things through like that?” He smirks. “The distraction was accidental, though I can’t pretend it didn’t work out well for me.”

“What. Did. You. Do.” Gabriel says.

She cringes at each syllable, and waits for Gabriel to swing from enraged on her behalf to enraged at her, once it all comes out.

“I kissed her.”

She wants to bury her head in her hands but she's unable to look away from this car crash of a situation.

“You what?”

“I had her in front of me, with her hair down, and that beautiful _Gabriel_ dress open exposing her back, and suddenly I had the ability to do exactly what I wanted to do so I kissed her.” He says looking bizarrely smug to have torpedoed her chances of getting out of this with any dignity intact.

What had he said it like _that?_

It was almost as if he _wanted_ to provoke Gabriel, as if Gabriel isn’t the arbitrator of his survival. 

“ _You kissed her?”_

“My neck.” She rushes to clarify. “He kissed the back of my neck. And I didn’t kiss him back. I didn’t let it go any further. I wouldn’t do that. Not with a copy of you.”

Gabriel just looks at her and she can’t place the emotion flashing behind his stormcloud eyes at all.

Then he reaches out towards her and she it takes all her effort not to flinch. His hand runs over her hair to settle on the back on her head leaving her scalp tingling its wake.

She doesn’t understand. 

A second later she understands even less when he leans down and brings their lips together.

She’s too shocked to consider any sort of response, and he doesn’t seem to expect one.

It’s brief. More pressure than movement. More the promise of a something, than the start of something.

That’s still enough to leave her staring dumbly at him when he pulls away.

* * *

Nathalie stares at him, and raises her hand to touch her lips.

She doesn’t say anything and it's eerily reminiscent of how she’d been frozen earlier when he’d found her and the Sentimonster.

He doesn’t feel guilt for much he does but right now he’s abruptly aware that what he just did was badly done.

She’s been fighting off the Sentimonster's advances at the very least since the bracelet was lost and the last thing she needed was _him_ deciding to join in with that.

God, he might have just found a way to make her leave him when she’d stayed through all the pain and danger he’d put her through.

“Nathalie,” He starts, unsure what apology he can make to fix things.

She startles at her name. “Sir?”

He internally winces at her return to formality and the reminder of how inappropriate this is,

“ _Why_?” Natalie says.

“I'm sorry.” He weakly offers, the words unfamiliar on his tongue.

Nathalie presses her hands against her temples and makes a distressed groan. To his horror whatever conclusion she comes to she walks over to the Sentimonster and _puts her hand on its arm._

“Could you give me and Gabriel some privacy?”

“That sounds dangerous for me.”

“It’s not like that. I just, I need an explanation without an audience.”

“I’m hardly an outside audience.”

“Please.” She’s begging him now, “Just. Let me have this. Don't make me worry about what you'll do if we leave you here.”

The Sentimonster softens and he has the uncomfortable impression that that must be how he looks when he gives in to Nathalie.

It somewhat suggests his affection for her might be longer lasting than he’d be thinking and this really isn't the time to realise that.

“You don’t have to worry about me. You know that.” He accepts. “Go on then.” He says gesturing to the one of the bedrooms.

Nathalie pales impossibly further at that having clearly not thought through the options. Gabriel wonders if he should offer the terrace instead but neither of them would have comfortable having this conversation in the open air.

* * *

Gabriel doesn’t seem to share any of her compunctions about their location sitting down on the bed that should have been his.

She can’t stop herself from hesitating.

“You don’t have to.” He says. If _Gabriel’s_ noticing her unease then that really shows how unmoored she is from her normal self at the moment.

Forcing herself to sit down, in some faint hope that maybe it she can pretend things are normal they will be rather than the topsy-turvy dream she seems to be living in at the moment, she says. “It’s fine.”

She waits from him to say anything more.

He doesn’t.

“What _was_ that out there?” She asks when she can’t bear the silence any longer.

“A kiss?”

That wasn’t what she was asking, and apart from an embarrassment she shares he’s being frustratingly opaque at the moment.

“I’m sorry.” He adds.

Another time she might have been noted the record of two apologies in less than five minutes but right now she doesn’t care. She needs to know _why_ he’s sorry.

Sorry for leading her on? Sorry for shocking her? Sorry for _what?_

“I don’t understand.”

He shuts his eyes and exhales. “Do you remember how on the phone you said I was missing out on actually having all these moments with Adrien by letting it have them?”

That hadn’t quite been how she’d phrased it and she doesn’t see the relevance at all but, “Yes?”

He reaches out to take her hand, “I think the same applies to moments I should have had with you.”

“What?” She doesn’t have any better words to give.

“The night he kissed you, that was last night when you went to the bar here wasn’t it?”

“It was.” She says still unsure if she can believe what he seems to be saying. Then she realises something. “How did you know we went to the bar?” 

A shadow of annoyance crosses his face. “Audrey Bourgeois and her gossip network, but that’s irrelevant.”

She’s not sure it is if it means at least the public part of this utter mess is going to be spread over magazines and the internet.

“The point is I’m the one that should have been there with you, I’m the one who should have helped you to your room, and I’m the one who should have been in the situation that he so thoroughly described, and I wasn’t letting it steal one more thing from me.”

“What?” She must sound like some malfunctioning robot with how much she’s repeating that word tonight, but her entire world just turned upside down _again,_ for what feels like the umpteenth time this evening. “Are you saying you kissed me because you were jealous?”

Jealously means that on some level at least he wants _her,_ and call her stupid for not thinking that when he _kissed_ her, but considering that the fact he doesn’t want anyone other than Emilie including or even especially her is driven into her every day she’s at work, and even sometimes when she’s not she doesn’t think she can be blamed. 

“I’m not proud. I know it’s not even a person, but you have to understand _it looks like me_ , and it feels like these last few days I’ve been watching it live _my_ life. I know it was unfair to force that on you, when you’ve already been dealing with my emotions this whole week, I’d meant to talk to you first, but that thing,”

“Wait.” She cuts him off, distracted from the revelation that apparently what he needed was to see his other options was to literally _see_ them acted in front of him, by his final sentence. “What do you mean I’ve been dealing with your emotions this whole week?”

They’d created the sentimonster from Gabriel’s need to protect but saying that she’s been dealing with his emotions because of that is a bit of a stretch when all the problems have stemmed from _her_ emotional commands.

He looks down at his lap. “You had issues with it overstepping boundaries before losing the bracelet didn’t you?”

“How on earth could you know that?” She asks. He’s not supposed to know anything about this apart from what she’s told him.

“You just confirmed it for me.”

She loves him but he can be infuriating. “How could you suspect that?”

He sighs. “Because it’s my fault.”

* * *

“How?” Nathalie says, “It was all my fault. I was the one wearing the bracelet.”

He looks back up at her. He wants to smooth away the creases of guilt on her face. Back in Paris he hadn’t considered that if his changed emotions showed through his creation that she might blame herself.

“And it was created from _my_ emotions, to be _me._ I have to bear at least as much blame for how it’s been acting as you do.” Surely his recent actions must have proved that to her. She couldn’t have known how he felt before, not when _he_ didn’t but she does now.

“You don’t understand.” She says looking frantic. “I created it _wrong_. You haven’t seen how it’s been looking at me these last few days.”

“I think I might have some idea.” He admits. “If I had to guess I’d say it’s how I’ve been looking at photos of you.”

“Photos?” She asked.

“The ones Adrien sent.”

Her frown changes infinitesimally to one of confusion rather than guilt, and it’s strangely comforting to him. “I didn’t think I was in many of the photos.” 

He’d forgotten she wasn’t aware of most of them. This is going to be embarrassing. “Adrien sent more to me privately. I, ah, may have given him the wrong impression that that was what I wanted.”

“When you say more?”

“More ones of you.”

“And you didn’t correct him?”

“I wanted to see you were ok.” And he’d just wanted to see her full stop but given she’s yet to really acknowledge what he’s already admitted to her he figures that coming on any stronger would be a mistake. The only thing giving him hope at the moment is how she’s yet to let go of his hand.

“OK.” Nathalie shakes her head and smiles “Ok.”

“You’re not cross?”

“I don’t think I have the emotional bandwidth to be cross right now.” She pauses. “Gabriel I’m relieved, _really_ relieved to hear my feelings aren’t completely unreciprocated, but I still think how the sentimonster acts is because of me. This…realisation of yours, its recent isn’t it? He’s been acting off from the start.”

He’s so distracted by her revelation of _her_ feelings for _him_ , that he almost misses her last few words.

“What do you mean?”

“Just doing things you’d never do. Even on our first night here.”

“What happened on your first night here?”

She looks away from him, as If she can’t meet his eyes, “You and Adrien invited me up to your suite to watch a film after dinner.”

That doesn’t sound as impossible as Nathalie’s claiming.

“And, then once Adrien went to bed, you tried to invite me into your bed. Sorry, I mean not you, other you, um, _him._ ”

He blinks twice. _That_ he hadn’t expected. He’d thought the sentimonsters attentions had grown with his own affections. He’s fairly certain he wouldn’t have tried to get Nathalie into his bed on Saturday.

“See.” Nathalie says, clearly seeing his shock. “That wasn’t you was it?”

If it wasn’t him, then she’s implying it was _her,_ and that means whatever these feelings of hers are that a lot more is apparently on the table than he’d dared to hope from her initial response.

That’s a welcome discovery, so given that he’s never thought of himself as a masochist he’s not quite sure why he finds himself asking, “How? What did it say?”

“Oh, it started with him going on about how he was worried about me, and should I really be alone given I wasn’t fully recovered,” She rolls her eyes, “and Adrien’s bodyguard was sharing his room, so clearly it wasn’t a problem for me to share this room despite,” She gestures to the king size bed they’re sitting on to make her point.

He actually feels a little guilty. That doesn’t actually sound anywhere _near_ as outlandish as her initial description of the incident had made it sound. Put like that it almost does sound like something he could have said.

It sounds like something he’d been tempted to say more than once after she’d used the Peacock Miraculous.

And if it _was_ her emotions that provoked it he’s not sure that it was anything more than a desire for the comfort of lying in someone else’s arms. Which he very much also wants but it does make him feel slightly bad for how quickly his thoughts went into the gutter at her words.

“Gabriel?” Nathalie asks the concern clear in his voice.

“I’m not sure you went as badly wrong in the creation as you seem to think.” He admits. “You see me the most of anybody. Maybe you saw something of me _I_ didn’t.”

Nathalie’s eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly. 

Suddenly there’s the knock on the door and they both look at each other in panic.

“Nathalie?” The sentimonster calls, “Adrien’s here for dinner.”

He knows from the look on her face that she’d forgotten about Adrien, and dinner, and the rest of the outside world just as much as he has.

Still the akuma attacks _have_ taught them to think fast and they’re both on their feet immediately with him backing away out of the sight from the doorway and her going to answer it.

She lets his copy in.

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him to go change, and I’d get ready myself.”

“He didn’t think it odd you weren’t already?”

“He didn’t say anything.”

She sighs “I suppose we’re lucky he threw on casual clothes after cleaning up after the beach, or he’d have arrived here just before and we’d be in an even worse place.”

The sentimonster looks between the two of them. “Did you want me to go? If you two are still talking.”

Nathalie looks uncertain. “I think Gabriel should go. He hasn’t seen Adrien for days now. I can stay here with you.”

He’s ready to protest that, but just as he’s about to do so he sees the wisdom in it. He _still_ doesn’t understand why Nathalie hasn’t transformed and revoked the amok, but there isn’t the time to argue about it now, and if it’s going to be around then one of them has to supervise it.

Leaving it alone with Adrien is not an option.

He’d prefer to send Nathalie down and keep an eye on this thing himself but Adrien’s thinks he’s just seen him and he hasn’t got work to claim as an excuse to disappear here.

Besides they’re short on time and he does realise it’ll be quicker for him to just change clothes than for her to shower, dress, and do her hair and make-up.

“How do I explain your absence?” He asks.

She shrugs. “Say I’m too tired and I’m going to bed early or something. Now go change and quickly.”

Thankfully his clothes for each night are hanging together but it’s still a rush to change.

When he’s ready he stops by the door and looks back at Nathalie. He still doesn’t like leaving her here with his replica even though he knows she’s managed a whole day with it in control of itself. “Are you sure you’ll be ok with him?”

“Go. You should be with Adrien.” She says, and leans up to press a kiss to his check.

He finds himself smiling back at her and she mirrors him, and for a moment he’s oh so tempted just to kiss her again. Properly this time.

But Adrien’s waiting.

He takes a deep breath, and opens the door.

Adrien smiles. “Hey, you’re ready. Um, did you know you’ve lipstick on your check?”

* * *

“I’m assuming that went well for you.” The sentimonster says from where he’s leaning against the wall once they hear the door of the suite close from. “Giving how you sent him off.”

There’s a bit of a reproach in that final sentence.

Even with that she wants to beam, and spill all her excitement and confusion and hope to someone else who might help her make sense of it all. She doesn’t regret sending Gabriel off with his son but she wishes they’d had more time to talk.

She can’t do it to the man in front of her. She might be a supervillain, and sometimes she might even enjoy that but she doesn’t enjoy actually cruelty for the sake of it. Not for people she doesn’t have a grudge against anyway.

It’s pointless to pretend nothing happened between her and Gabriel when he’s seen enough to know something did though.

“It went better than I could have hoped.” She says.

He scowls. “Glad to hear things are working out for one of us.”

“I’m not sure anything was worked out.” She admits in the hope of tamping down his jealousy, “I still don’t really know exactly what he feels, and there’s you know, Emilie.”

He pushes off the wall, and sits down next to her, exactly where Gabriel had been before they were interrupted. “My plan solved that issue you know.”

“That wasn’t the problem with your plan.” She tells him.

“What was then?”

There’s no answer available but the honest one, but she knows he won’t accept it.

She looks away, “Did you want to shower? You should do it while Adrien’s away.”

He quite deliberately doesn’t take her point.

“Nathalie. What _was_ the issue? I know it’s redundant now _he’s_ made his claim on you, but you were ready to accept it until he arrived.”

“I wasn’t.” She admits. She finds herself absently playing with the clasp on the bag holding her Miraculous which had been sitting on the bed beside her.

“You were.” He says. “You were tempted.”

“I won’t pretend I wasn’t tempted. You’re…very tempting, but I realised it wouldn’t work even before Gabriel arrived. I just didn’t know how to say it.”

“Why then?”

“It wouldn’t right for either of us. I created you to be Gabriel, and you know how I feel about Gabriel. Whatever he says I don’t think I was very objective about it when I made you. Your feelings, they’re _my_ feelings reflected back at me. It wouldn’t be real.”

“As something made of feelings I feel as if they’re pretty real.”

She have liked to throw herself back against the bed in only semi-performative despair before admitting the next part but that felt like a bad idea after everything that had passed between them.

“You know I thought the pain and the possibility of death was the worse the Peacock Miraculous had to unleash on me, but I clearly underestimated it.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I’m not sure if I should be offended.” 

“It’s not you. It’s just the whole situation. I don’t know if there’s anything I can offer that’s fair for you.”

“No. I suppose you can’t.”

He looks so forlorn beside her that she can’t imagine destroying him when all her instincts are to hug him. With everything that he’s said today she manages to hold those instincts back. The last thing she should be doing is encouraging his interest, even if it _is_ perhaps the only thing holding him back from betraying them.

“Maybe we could change your appearance with the Miraculous. Make you someone other than Gabriel, and let you have your own life. Maybe you could even still help us with all of this, though god knows what you’d do.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“I don’t know. It’s worth a try maybe.”

They fall back into silence.

“Do want room service?” He asks her. “You’re missing out on dinner to babysit me. I worked that out.”

“At least half of why I’m missing dinner is because I failed to get ready for it.” She points out. “But yes, that’s not a bad idea. I’d better be the one to ring down though.”

She gets out the menu and the thought suddenly occurs to her, “Do you actually need to eat?”

She’s not thought about it before, and she’s not sure why she’s asking now. Even if he doesn’t it’s not going to make him seem less human to her.

“I don’t know.” He says. “I always have.”

“I’m going to count you in for this anyway.”

“The condemned man’s last meal?” he asks.

“I do really want to find another way.” She tells him and that _is_ the honest truth.

* * *

To his credit Adrien manages to wait until they’re sat down to start prodding at him.

“So is Nathalie actually too tired for dinner, or did you just want to speak to me alone? Because I’m assuming everything _is_ ok right? Given the lipstick.” Adrien grins at him with a disturbing lack of innocence that makes him think that maybe he needs to control his media and internet consumption more.

Gabriel isn’t sure what to say. The easy route would be to claim Nathalie’s absence is nothing more than exhaustion, and to deny everything, but unlike the last time Adrien suspected something between them there actually _is_ something between them this time, and admitting Nathalie’s absence has to do with what’s happening between them might stop Adrien digging in further into the actual situation.

He bets the bloody sentimonster would know what to say.

“Nathalie _is_ tired.” He says and sees some of the light in Adrien’s eyes dim, “but there have been certain developments between us I thought I should talk to you about.”

Adrien’s good mood recovers immediately just as his falls as he remembers that he and Nathalie haven’t had the chance to clarify anything. They don’t even know what exactly the other one feels, or what the two of them want, never mind what they should tell Adrien.

Adrien recovers, “Are you together then? She knows I’m happy with it right? I tried to tell her that the other night without saying it outright because I wasn’t sure if you’d said anything yet, but I don’t think she really understood what I was saying.”

Nathalie hadn’t mentioned any of that. Though she there’s no reason she would have if Adrien’s right about her not realising, and it’s not like there was even any time for her to do so if she had.

His son’s still staring at him waiting for a response.

“You might be right about her not understanding you, but please don’t press her about it. Not yet at least.” If it looks like it might be useful he doesn’t have any hesitance in letting Adrien plead their case but right now it could still be the opposite, “What’s between us, well, it’s very new and we haven’t had time to decide what it is yet.”

“What does that that mean?”

He skirts the truth of the situation. “Nathalie and I, we both have feelings for each other, and we’ve admitted that to each other, but there are complications.”

“But I don’t understand.” Adrien says, his eyes wide open and guileless, “If you like her and she likes you then what’s stopping you?”

“It’s not that simple.” He tells him, grasping for a safe reason to give him. He finds it in Adrien’s oh-so-familiar eyes, “There’s your mother for one.”

As he says it he realises with a shock that he hadn’t given a thought to Emilie since the moment he’d found the sentimonster on the balcony with Nathalie. Even when it had spoken of trying to help all he’d thought of was of becoming just Hawkmoth, while someone else was out there being Gabriel Agreste.

“Father,” Adrien tips his head slightly and reaches out for his hand, “You know she’s not coming back right? It’s been too long with no news. It wouldn’t be betraying her memory to start something with Nathalie.”

“She’s not,” Gabriel catches himself just in time, “We don’t know she’s dead. Nathalie and I, we’ve been working together to try to bring her back to us.”

At least the final part of that statement is true. Back when he’d thought all of this would be over in a matter of a few short months, if not weeks, protecting Adrien from what had happened had seemed the obvious choice. Emilie had chosen to keep him shielded from her usage of the Peacock and what it was doing to her, he wasn’t going to turn around and ignore her choices on that just because she wasn’t around to enforce them anymore. He hadn’t considered then how Adrien’s lack of knowledge of the truth would lead him to treat his mother as dead rather than just disappeared while there was still a chance of getting her back.

While there still _is_ a chance. So long as they keep trying there is a chance.

Adrien’s looking at him with an expression he can’t understand. Given the nature of his Miraculous he should be _better_ at this, but Adrien’s emotions have always been oddly muted to his empathic sense, and he’s not actually very good at interpreting what emotions he’s feeling through it. It’s easy to recognise when something’s strong and negative but half the time he’s not quite sure what stripe of negative emotion he’s sensing until he makes the akuma connection.

Adrien’s emotional state right now is the furthest thing from negative but the emotion he’s feeling towards him right now is more complex than something simply positive.

“Is that why you’ve been working so much more since she disappeared? You’ve been looking for her?” Adrien asks.

It’s as close to the truth he can give Adrien without him admitting about Hawkmoth, and for once he can’t see any reason to lie.

“We have.”

Oddly his response makes Adrien smile, though his son’s face quickly composes itself, before he can respond to that.

“That’s good.” Adrien says, “I mean, I can see that must make things weird for you and Nathalie, but you shouldn’t feel guilty. I know the two of you must have given it your all. It’s not your fault you haven’t succeeded. You shouldn’t let that stop you.”

“I’m not sure I deserve your faith in me.” He tells Adrien. It’s the truth. He _doesn’t_ know if he has given his all. There’s been more than once where he’s put Nathalie’s safety ahead of Emilie. If he stops though then there’s no justification for how he’d put Emilie ahead of Nathalie and not put his foot down about her using the Peacock Miraculous.

The table falls silent at that until they’re interrupted by the arrival of the food.

Unfortunately that doesn’t bring the conversation to an end “What other reasons are there then?” says Adrien.

“What?”

“You said there were complications plural for you and Nathalie.”

“I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to have with you anymore.” He says in the hope of avoiding anything further on the matter. This really isn’t a conversation he should be having until he’s decided what he wants, and he’s spoken to Nathalie, and preferably until they’re destroyed that sentimonster who he’s _sure_ will work to undermine whatever he says.

Adrien does fall silent but for second time this evening he’s faced with his own expression on someone else’s face. It’s less disconcerting coming from his son than it is on the sentimonster given that otherwise Adrien doesn’t resemble him much at all, but it does make him wonder exactly how many times he’s had to fix his stare on his son until he tells him the truth if now he’s mimicking it.

“She’s my employee for a start.” He says, though in truth while it had made a good scrounge to beat himself with when he’d thought his emotions were as simple as lust, it’s not something he’s worried about that much since, because she’s been more than that to him for a long time. He’s trusted her with his other life for goodness sake.

Adrien echoes his thoughts, “She’s not _just_ that though. I mean you’ve seemed more like friends than anything on this holiday.”

“Still. I wouldn’t expect you to understand, but it does make things awkward.”

“Why wouldn’t I understand?”

“You don’t work with someone everyday do you?” He points out.

“I see my schoolfriends everyday.”

“You’re not usually working _with_ them are you? They’re not dependent on you.”

“OK, no. But I have my modelling work, and my” Adrien pauses for a second, “sports teams. I think I could handle dating someone on them alright.”

Generally he knows he’s pretty dense about hints but given generally sports _teams_ are one gender, he has to wonder if this is Adrien’s subtle attempt at coming out. It seems like weird timing but he guesses they have been talking about relationships. At least they’re in the right industry for that, but if he is then Emilie really should be here. She was always good at being comforting.

Wait. He’s fairly certain Tomoe had said her daughter fenced with Adrien. So maybe he’s not saying that, but he can’t just ask him like that if that’s not what he means.

“Why, do you have someone in mind?” He tries to ask around the question.

Adrien blushes and says, “No, not really,” in a high-pitched voice which even _he_ finds supremely unconvincing.

The Rossi girl is supposed to _tell_ him things like this about their son. That’s the whole point of their deal. If she’s failing at something as large as this he might as well trade her in for a model who Adrien has _actual_ chemistry on camera with, like whatever random friend of his that photographer pulled in before. He vaguely recalled that causing major issues for their payroll department which Nathalie had to sort out but that’s photographers for you.

Unless. He wouldn’t be too surprised if the girl had worked at he wouldn’t approve of Adrien dating at this age. She could be hiding a relationship from him. They wouldn’t be the first _actual_ couple to have no chemistry on camera.

“It’s not Lila Rossi is it?”

Adrien chokes on his glass on water. “What? No, no no _no._ Why would you think that?”

He isn’t sure why Adrien seems to think it’s such a ridiculous idea. “You work with her. That seemed to fit what you were implying.”

“I would literally date _Chloé_ before I dated Lila, and Chloé’s more like a cousin or something than someone I’d ever date. Lila is _really_ not my type.”

At least his chances of ending up related to Audrey sound reassuringly low. Though unfortunately it’s not as if Adrien’s romantic preferences at this age are likely to mean much by the time he’s an adult.

“Who is then?”

Adrien mutters something indistinguishable.

“What was that Adrien?”

“I said you wouldn’t know her.”

That is not a good sign. Who on earth has Adrien found to interest him and where?

“Try me.”

“Really, it’s nothing. She’d never date me anyway.”

That seems unlikely. Adrien’s ridiculously large pile of fanmail would suggest otherwise. He’s glad Nathalie’s the one who has to deal with _that_ rather than him.

“You’re too young to date anyway.” He tells Adrien. “But when you do I don’t think you’re going to have any trouble finding offers.”

Trouble fending them off perhaps but that’s a different matter. The women who tilt their hat at him, and in _his_ case he knows they’re mainly just after his money, make him miss being married even more than he does already. Not that even that had stopped some of them.

“Not the one I want. She’s not the type to be impressed by things like looks or money, and she likes someone else anyway.”

Now he feels insulted on Adrien’s behalf. He’s sure whoever else this girl likes he can’t compare to Adrien.

“I doubt that. It seems more likely she’s trying to make you jealous.” He tries to reassure him.

Adrien slumps. “No, she knows I like her. She’s just not interested.”

Adrien might be convinced of that but _he_ isn’t. Probably she’s just trying to distinguish himself from all the other girls who throw themselves at him.

* * *

“You should get ready for bed.” Nathalie tells the copy. “I wasn’t wrong when I said you should shower while Adrien’s out.”

“Is there much point? Where will I even sleep? I’m sure _he’ll_ take the bed.”

She supposes she understands his dislike of Gabriel but it’s only going to make things more difficult. He does have a point though, the only other place they have available is her bed and that’s definitely not happening. 

Besides it’s the same issue as with dinner. They can’t leave the sentimonster alone. Not now she’s refused him what he wants.

There’s only one real solution. “The two of you will have to share. You’re grown adults not children you should be able to share a bed.”

“I don’t think there’s space. Neither of us are small.”

“You’re tall not fat.” Even if she _is_ rather fond of the broad expanse of their shoulders it’s nowhere near wide enough to cause issues here. “Having the two of you in there isn’t going to make it any shorter.” Unless they’ve some unknown habit of laying across it diagonally, but given Gabriel managed to share a bed with Emilie for years that doesn’t seem likely.

He looks at her like Gabriel did the time she tried to convince him that she couldn’t see much of a difference between the camel and tan shades he was showing her.

“It’s a big bed.” She says in exasperation. “All three of us would fit in there.”

She only realises what she’s said after the words leave her mouth and then she wants to die of humiliation. Apparently losing the bracelet hasn’t actually been the end of her subconscious brain embarrassing her this holiday. 

“Please forget I said that.”

* * *

The discovery of Adrien’s crush actually turns out to be one of the best things that could happen for dinner.

Not that he’s happy at the reminder of how his son is growing up. Nor does he like the fact that Adrien won’t admit who it is, and he mentally tables to ask Nathalie if she has any guesses either, but it means every time Adrien tries to bring the conversation back to his and Nathalie’s still unresolved relationship he can ask about his son’s romantic life instead of his.

“We’re not supposed to be talking about me.” Adrien pouts. “Wasn’t this meal so you could talk to me about Nathalie.”

“And I have. What about Mme. Tsurugi’s daughter? You’re friends aren’t you?”

Adrien blushes slightly and he thinks he might have got it but then he says, “Yes, and she’s really nice and it would be nice if it was her but it’s not. Shouldn’t we be talking about what you’re going to say to Nathalie so we don’t have a repeat of last night?”

That does distract him. Surely neither of them would have admitted what happened last night to Adrien.

“What do you know about what happened last night?”

“Only that Nathalie was really angry this morning. I don’t think I’ve seen her that cross at you…ever.”

He smirks, score 1 for him and zero for the Sentimonster. “Don’t worry. I can promise you that what happened last night is never going to happen again.”

Now if she’s amenable to it he might like to re-enact some of it with her with a rather happier ending but that’s a totally different matter.

“Now what about,” He desperately casts around for names. He’d had Nathalie look into the backgrounds of Adrien’s class list but he never memorised their names, “The girl with the pun surname?”

Adrien looked at him blankly.

“From the bakery? She won that design competition.” He adds, given he can hardly say he’d akumatised her father.

“Marinette?” Adrien asks, eyes wide.

He nods. He thinks that sounds right, and if it’s wrong he’s not going to know otherwise.

“No, again she’s nice, and I like her, but not like that.” He says although he is blushing slightly again.

* * *

He emerges from the bathroom dressed for bed and with damp hair. “You should shower too, you know. You haven’t had a chance.”

“All my stuff’s in my room.” She tells him. “I shower before I go to bed.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive my shampoo.”

She tilts her head at him sceptically. “You know that’s not the issue. I’ve nothing to change into.”

He shrugs. “Steal something of his then. It’s not like he’d mind. “

She scoffs, “And walk down to my room like _that_? Do you like provoking scandals?”

It _would_ explain a lot. Though she’s no idea where that would have come from, because it’s not her and it’s not Gabriel either.

“Wear a robe then, plenty of people do that on their way to the spa. Or send him down to get you something if you don’t trust me.”

She _would_ like to wash all the salt off.

* * *

Unfortunately his early guesses of Tomoe’s daughter and Marinette Whose-surname-has-something-to-do-with-baking seems to be the closest he gets.

“No it’s not the girl who got turned into Princess Fragrance.” Adrien whines as they get in the lift. “Why are you so interested in this?”

“Can’t I be interested in my son’s life?”

“Well, yeah, but,”

“But, what?”

“Nothing!” Adrien holds his arms up in surrender. “I just, it’s not a big deal, you should forget I said anything.”

“If it wasn’t a big deal then you’re tell me. I can’t think how inappropriate this girl must be if you’re making such a big thing of hiding it.”

“She’s not inappropriate!” Adrien says, as the lift bings when they reach their floor, “Look, it’s Ladybug ok?”

His so distracted by this he almost walks into the wall instead of through the door. He manages to avoid that just in time but he still catches his shoulder on it.

“You’re definitely not allowed to date Ladybug.” He tells Adrien. He is _not_ having his son date his nemesis. He refuses to have his life get even more ridiculous like that.

“Yeah, I guessed that would be your reaction.”

“Hawkmoth would target anyone she was dating,” He justifies. It’s not a lie because he _would_ if it was anyone other than Adrien. It’s not like he can kidnap his own son when at least half the point of all his security is to _stop_ Adrien being kidnapped.

Although if it was he and Nathalie kidnapping Adrien then he supposes Adrien wouldn’t be in any danger, and obviously they’d be able to keep him well-treated. Maybe there is a possibility of making that work if Adrien insists on dating her.

“Listen you don’t need to worry. She’s a superhero. It’s not like I’ve got any real chance with her.” Adrien tries to reassure him totally unaware of his actual thoughts on the issue.

“When did you even meet her?”

“She’s rescued me remember?”

“Of course.” How could he forget. “Well, you’ll just have to not get in those situations again.”

“I can’t help who Hawkmoth targets.”

Gabriel can. But he manages to avoid saying that as they make their way down the corridor, and into their suite.

Adrien hesitates in the living room.

“Goodnight Adrien.” He says hoping he’ll get the hint. Now he’s here the need to open that door and check in on Nathalie and the sentimonster seems far more urgent.

Adrien gives him a brief squeeze of a hug. “Can I say something?”

“I didn’t know you had to ask.” He says.

“It’s just, I want you to know that week has been really really great, I don’t want things to go back to how they were when we get to Paris.” Adrien says. “Goodnight Father.”

Having made his pronouncement his son leaves the room in a way that he can only really describe as fleeing.

Suddenly he feels cold again.

He’d been so concerned about its relationship with Nathalie he’d forgotten how Adrien preferred the copy to the original.

There’s nothing he can do now though so he heads to the room instead. 

What he finds is simultaneously reassuring and concerning. Nathalie and the sentimonster have both dozed off on top of the sheets.

It’s in his pyjamas and Nathalie’s wrapped up in one of the hotel bathrooms with a sliver of grey material peeking through beneath reassuring him that there is _something_ beneath it least.

The other reassuring thing is that they’re not touching-each lying on their own half of the bed, and again he reminds himself that they are on top the covers.

All of that doesn’t stop him from wanting to shove the sentimonster out of the bed so he can take _his_ rightful place.

He could of course find Nathalie’s key card and go sleep in her room but the whole point of coming down here though was so he wouldn’t get displaced by his duplicate.

He goes and gets himself ready for bed. Apparently he _had_ packed one set of pyjamas extra to what he’d needed for his time ready but oddly he only seemed to have packed the bottoms. 

Well. It would have to be enough. It’s not like he was going to be getting up in the middle of the night to akumatise people here.

Once he ready he eyed the bed. Hopefully even asleep Nathalie would work with him. Carefully he untied the bathrobe so she didn’t overheat.

 _There_ was his pyjama top, and the image provoked a blood rush he staunchly ignored.

He tried to pull her upright, to better get an arm under to lift her, without waking her but he didn’t quite succeed.

“Gabriel?” she murmured, still half-asleep.

“Come on Nathalie, let’s get you up.”

She wasn’t particularly helpful when it came to moving so he could get the duvet up but she didn’t resist him either. In fact she melted against him in a way that was rather distracting.

Having managed just about to get her back in place so he could pull the duvet back over them he realised that he should have put himself on the other side of her, to better divide her from the sentimonster.

He was tired himself though after the long drive, and he had Nathalie in his arms and didn’t want to move, and there _was_ the duvet separating the two of them so he left it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where this is going


	6. Chapter 6

There must have been a noise or something. She’s just about awake but she can tell it’s far too early to be so and she’s warm and snuggly and comfortable and she has absolutely no interest in moving so she refuses to open her eyes.

She’s just going to stay here and drift off again.

How long that resolution holds she’s not quite sure. It could have be five minutes or it could have been twenty and she could have even fallen asleep in between.

What she does know is that her eyelids are _way_ too heavy to open but she’s also not falling back to proper sleep. _That’s_ not fair. She fairly certain today is not a workday and even if it was her alarm clock would wake her so why on earth can’t she just properly.

She tries to shift position to see if that helps but it’s surprisingly difficult.

Oh.

She’s not the only one in this bed.

She’s being _held._ That’s why she’s so reluctant to leave this for bed for the real waking world, because she’s _wanted_ here.

The warmth in front of her emanates against her face and she lets it fall into the body in front of her. The _bare chest_ in front of her, which is probably something she should think about the implications of but right now that seems like something to put off until much later when she’s actually awake.

* * *

Vaguely he feels a movement around him, and he doesn’t like it, and pulls the person in his arms in closer.

* * *

This time she blinks her eyes open. It’s not necessarily time to get up but it’s _possibly_ time to get up, enough so that she should probably try and find out.

Dawn’s peaking in around the curtains but it’s not light enough to be time to get up yet.

It’s light enough though to just about make out the contours of the person she’s lying pressed against in the bed, and pressed against is the right word. She doesn’t remember their legs being this entwined last time she semi-awoke.

It’s _nice_ and she doesn’t particularly want to ruin it by working out how she’s got here when she doesn’t remember anything leading up to it.

She tilts her head up and freezes.

Even in the grey light and from this angle she’d recognise that face.

She can still extricate herself from this.

On trying on surreptitiously pull away she realises she’s not only stymied by his arms around her but the warm mass behind her, which she realises is _also_ a person.

They’ve also got an arm and a leg over her but at least there’s a duvet between them unlike she and Gabriel where never mind how they’re cocooned together under the cover; they only seem to have one set of clothing between them. 

She twists her head around to try and work out what on earth is going on only to find Gabriel.

Again.

That’s _what._ How is that even, _oh._ Last night Gabriel had arrived out of nowhere. That had happened hadn’t it?

But she doesn’t remember going to bed with the two of them. That was very definitely not something on the cards, or _,_ even something she’d actually want.

This must be one of those half-dreams that come sometimes between sleeping and waking.

The Gabriel behind her shifts closer pushing _her_ closer into the Gabriel in front of her and she thinks she’ll just let herself indulge in this until she really wakes up.

* * *

Unusually he wakes up and he isn't tired. He's _always_ tired. He hasn't slept well in, well, years.

Then again, there hasn’t been a women in his arms for years.

It feels like this should be a dream, but the warmth and softness pressed up against him feels very real.

Even if the whole scenario leading up to it doesn’t.

He opens his eyes to see Nathalie, to confirm to himself that they had both confessed _something,_ and she is here.

Over the top of her head his finds himself looking into his own eyes. For a moment he could almost fool himself he's looking into a mirror because it looks just as confused as he does and then they both seem to shift to an irritated scowl at the exact same time.

It's uncanny.

And it's totally ruined his mood.

He can't enjoy having Nathalie here with him while the Sentimonster is here too.

While he and Nathalie are below the duvet and she's moulded up against him, the copy is moulded up against her back, even with the dividing cover. In fact it’s got an arm and leg thrown over her to hold her in its embrace. They’re all tightly wedged together though that the end of its leg is actually sitting over _his,_ and its hand is lying against his chest as if ready to push him away. That last bit at least makes some sense.

You can't build a brand of your own with your name and use your own family to market it without some narcissistic tendencies but he can quite happily say they’ve never extended to wanting to sleep with himself.

Unfortunately he’s no idea where Nathalie’s stashed her Miraculous so it’s not like he can use magic to get rid of it, and shoving _it_ out of bed seems impossible without also dislodging her.

“What time is it?” They both ask simultaneously and it only makes them both scowl harder.

They’re stuck in a stalemate. Neither willing to chance speaking again.

His phone is here somewhere, but he has no idea where and going looking for it would mean at the very least letting go of Nathalie and he absolutely _no_ interest in doing that. Especially when that thing would just move in on her.

Nathalie shifts a little in her sleep and that movement seems to startle the sentimonster into realising where its hand is and finally pulling it off him. He does unfortunately leave it lying on top of Nathalie.

“Have you considered just getting out of bed?” He asks it.

“Why should I?” It says. “It’s _my_ bed. You’re the one invading it.”

“I think you’ll find it’s _my name_ on the booking.”

“That’s my name too, and I’ve actually been here, unlike you.”

That only stokes his ire more, because he’s _not_ sharing his name, and he’s strongly considering if there is a way he could kick his counterpart without catching Nathalie in the firing line when she makes a grumpy noise that could possibly be “shut up.”

It’s surprisingly cute in a weird way.

* * *

Why is there noise right next to her ear?

This must finally be time to wake up.

The voices that disturbed her sound far too familiar. “Gabriel?” She queries in confusion as she opens her eyes.

“Yes?” Comes from either side of her in stereo.

She rolls her head away from the chest she was snuggled into and, apparently earlier _wasn’t_ a dream provoked by the weird situation she’d found herself in but reality.

If she’d realised earlier, well she can’t pretend she would have actually got out of the bed, but she might have tried to find a less compromising position than the one her hips are currently in.

“Are you two arguing again?” She ask as she tries to work out how this had happened. They’d been meant to be here. Not _her._ She remembers coming out of the shower and finding the copy already asleep on the bed. At that point she probably should have gone out to the sitting room but even with what he’d left out for her she felt uncomfortable at the idea of Adrien coming across her in that state of undress.

She must have fallen asleep where she’d lain down beside him on the bed attempting to read her book as if that could take her mind off the situation.

That only explains _one_ of them though.

Gabriel must have decided not to wake her when he arrived back and apparently joined them, which, she guess sort of makes sense. If she’d found _him_ in bed with a copy of _her,_ then she wouldn’t have left them alone either, though she’s also not sure this would have been her solution.

Both Gabriels look at her guiltily.

“We weren’t arguing.” One says.

“We just had a slight disagreement.” The other adds.

Actually while waking her to go back to her own room probably would have been the more sensible plan at least her presence stopped them from killing each other.

She feels like having two Gabriels fighting over her _should_ be more enjoyable than this. Not that the position she’s in isn’t enjoyable.

Which of them is in front of her and which of them is behind her suddenly seems like a vital question. She _hopes_ it’s the actual Gabriel whose chest her face was lying up against skin on skin.

She considers the hand lying on top of her over the duvet. No plaster, but she can’t remember which hand Gabriel had cut.

The other Gabriel’s hands are on her back trapped there by his counterpart.

She goes to roll onto her back and sit up against the headboard and they both oblige her movement. Any small regret she feels at the disentangling of their legs she keeps to herself.

Frustratingly though he sits up too the front Gabriel keeps one of his hands under the duvet on her thigh and the visible one doesn’t have a plaster on either.

She thinks he’s _probably_ the actual Gabriel because the other one had been fully dressed when she’d come out of the shower.

Reaching for his hand under the duvet she’s relieved to feel the change in texture from skin to plaster as her hand moves over his.

She squeezes it. “You’re Gabriel.”

He smiles back at her triumphantly.

Then looks over at the sentimonster, “And you’re,” then she pauses because they’d never had actually agreed on a name.

“Other Gabriel.” He says.

That’s not going to work, but without the added sweetener of giving him the scenario he so wanted she didn’t know if he’d accept another name.

“Okay.” She accepts it for now. It’s something to sort out later.

There’s much more pressing things to deal with now.

“I don’t suppose either of you decided to pack any more surprise clothes for me in with yours in some sort of miracle?” She asks.

They both shake their head.

Maybe Adrien won’t be up yet and Gabriel will be able to escape down to get her some unseen.

That hope’s shattered when there’s a knock at the door.

_Please don’t open the door Adrien._

Being found in bed with his father is bad enough. Being found in bed with _two_ of his father is even worse.

How they’d explain that she has no idea.

“I’m ordering breakfast. So you should get up soon if you want some?”

Strangely the two men look past her at each over as if waiting for the other to answer, and much as she’s really thankful Adrien didn’t get a dual answer one of them needs to move.

She elbows Gabriel. Of all of them in the bed he’s the only one who actually has Adrien for a son.

It’s only after she does it that she remembers that normally she’d never dare to do that. Then again normally she’s not spent the night wrapped up in his arms.

* * *

“Out in a minute.” He yells startled by Nathalie’s jab.

One some level his brain is still processing that. Nathalie wouldn’t show that sort of boldness, Mayura might, but the Nathalie he knows wouldn’t.

The Nathalie he’s seen a version of himself with on holiday though, the Nathalie that might be his partner rather than his assistant, she just might.

“What do we do now then?” The sentimonster asks.

“I think one of us has to go out and eat breakfast with my son.” Gabriel admits. He’s torn between Nathalie here, and Adrien there, and just because the she’s aware of the sentimonster and he isn’t somehow it doesn’t make it as easy a decision as that should mean it should be.

Nathalie lets her head fall back against the headboard. “But _I’ve_ been eating breakfast with the three of you too, how are we going to explain that?”

“Maybe if one of goes out to him and distracts him you could sneak out and back in?” The sentimonster offers before he has a chance to.

Except. He has information the sentimonster doesn’t which might have a slightly different bearing on their plan.

“He probably suspects you’re here already.” He tells them.

“ _What?”_ Nathalie almost shrieks in a manner that isn’t really very helpful if they’re trying to hide her presence.

“He knows you were here when I left for dinner.”

“You told him?”

“I had your lipstick on my cheek when I left.”

“I knew that was stupid of me.” Nathalie groans.

He wants to reassure her. “It wasn’t. Adrien isn’t stupid. He knows _something_ is going on. You’ve distracted him from the real issue.”

“Me.” The sentimonster says.

“Quite.” He agrees.

“Wait.” Nathalie says, “How did you explain that? Adrien wouldn’t have any reason to think we were anything.”

This is going to be awkward. “Adrien’s suspected us for a while. When he first brought it up I corrected him but I don’t know he ever fully took that on board, and there’s been a few times since where I think I’ve given him the wrong impression. Or in retrospect the right impression I suppose.”

A crease forms between Nathalie’s brows. “The photos?”

“That would be the worst of it.” He admits.

“There was more before then?”

He can’t quite keep the guilt off his face. He’d shrugged off any of her concerns before but in truth Adrien _had_ picked up on how frantic he’d been about her whenever she used that blasted Miraculous.

“Neither of you ever mentioned anything like this to me.” She says.

“I was embarrassed.” He says.

“And in denial.” The sentimonster says.

“Are you _helping_ me now?”

His counterpart shrugs, “I don’t remember being created. I feel like I’m _you,_ but if I try to focus down on what drives me, what emotion of yours exactly do you _think_ I was created from?”

“I” He thinks back trying to recall at exactly which point in their conversation Mayura had suddenly smirked and sent her amok out, “I wanted to keep Nathalie safe.”

“What?!” Nathalie’s head snapped to focus on him, “I thought, your family, or your identity, though I guess they’re sort of the same thing, I never thought. _Me?_ Really?”

He’d thought she’d known. Understanding what he’s feeling through the Miraculous has never been _his_ forte but he’d never realised Nathalie might share his weaknesses. She’s always so good at knowing exactly what _he_ needs that he’d just assumed that was how she was. That she was good at reading emotions.

“Yes. You.” He says. There’s nothing more really to add to that but he lets his thumb caress her cheekbone.

He’s still thrilling at the inhalation she makes at this when the sentimonster says, “So which one of us is going out there?”

“What?” He says confused by the change in topic.

“We can’t keep him waiting forever.”

“Wait.” Says Nathalie. “What exactly did you tell Adrien last night?”

Oh dear. He really should have discussed it with her before he said anything to Adrien. Now all he can hope is that she’s understanding about it.

He runs his hands through his hair in exasperation. “I had to admit _something_ to him. I couldn’t tell him nothing.”

“What did you say?” She asks, concern plain on her face.

“The truth, Or as close to it as I could. I admitted we’d both confessed to having feelings for each other, but it was very new, and rather complicated, and we hadn’t been able to discuss what we wanted yet. “

Nathalie’s head collapses back against the headboard, and he doesn’t quite understand why because that was as much truth as he could safely give Adrien, and she’s always telling him to tell the truth.

“Oh my god.”

“Nathalie?” He asks lost. He looks over towards the sentimonster to see if her creation understands her any better but for once he can’t even be irritated with it because when it looks just as lost as he does and when their eyes meet it just shrugs.

“We’re terrible role models.” She says. “What on earth is Adrien going to think when you told him that, and then I spend the night with you? He’s going to get a totally wrong impression of what happens when you confess to someone, even if it’s all a mess.”

“Surely not.” He can’t stop himself from saying, “He’s too young for that.”

“He’s old enough to be _aware._ ”

That is deeply disturbing and _wrong_ and for all he’d spent the evening riling up Adrien about what girl he liked he’s not ready to admit that his son’s somehow grown up that much without him realising.

“I think he should go to breakfast with Adrien.” The sentimonster says startling them both.

“Are you sure?” Nathalie asks, “I know you value your time with him.”

He still doesn’t know why she’s being so sensitive to it. She has her Miraculous, he’s here to take his rightful place, there’s no need for her to still be acting like she’s reliant on it. It had only had control of itself for one day.

“He’s the one who’s got us into this situation with Adrien. He can deal with it.”

He’d known there was the catch to the Sentimonster’s suggestion. If only he’d thought of that first.

Though that would have been ceding more of his relationship with Nathalie and Adrien to his copy and the whole point of this was so he didn’t have to, even if he might like to let the other have to deal with all the difficult parts.

* * *

She’s glad Gabriel leaves before her. She wants to put her bikini back on under his top and robe before she has to face Adrien, but it also gives her the chance to check with his duplicate.

“You’re sure you’re ok with this?” She asks letting herself place her hand over his. It seems silly to resist offering any physical reassurance after spending the night cuddled up together in bed, and she doesn’t have to worry about it being misinterpreted now.

Besides she _does_ trust him, even if she doesn’t have any real reason to, but there’s no harm in trying to ensure they keep him onside.

“With you and him? Hardly. With him having to deal with the awkwardness with Adrien? Absolutely fine.”

Despite the sardonic look he gives her she can’t quite help but feel it’s all a front, but there’s nothing she can do to help him apart from try to find a way to keep him alive.

He sighs. “Go on, they’ll be waiting for you out there.”

She rises from the bed, “Thanks for the reminder.”

At least there’s nothing for him to be jealous of in his current mood. If she’d ever wanted to discuss her relationship with his father with Adrien then this was pretty high on her list of how it hopefully wouldn’t go down.

Shutting her eyes and counting to ten she forces herself to open the door when she gets there. They’re already all outside at the table on the terrace and have yet to notice her.

When she opens the door to outside she has to supress a shiver. The last time she’d been out here the sentimonster had been trying to convince her of the life they could have together. It’s hard to look out there and see Gabriel with his son and believe that is actually Gabriel.

He turns to look up as she comes out the door. “Glad to see you’re finally joining us.”

That she doesn’t dignity with an answer. She’s not sure what answer she could give that wouldn’t embarrass her further in front of Adrien.

“Here” He passes her a mug as she slides into the empty chair next to him, “Your coffee.”

She takes it and takes a sip and immediately feels slightly more human. “Thanks. Just don’t expect me to be fully awake until I’ve finished it.”

He smirks. “I do know you.”

Across the table Adrien is staring at, no _studying_ them.

She is so not ready for this.

He doesn’t seem as shocked as she might have expected, and thus far he’s yet to say anything about it though admittedly he might have said something to Gabriel before she came out.

If anything he looks more comfortable with the situation than she feels. Which is reassuring. The absolute last thing she’d want is to cause him further distress. Whatever these apparent conversations he and Gabriel having been having about her without her knowledge it seems like they haven’t been accusatory at least.

Hopefully he doesn’t think she’s trying to take Emilie’s place.

The croissant in her mouth suddenly tastes like ash.

Gabriel desires her. She still finds it difficult to believe but there’s no other way to interpret his actions last night.

What else he does or does not feel she’s had no chance to establish but whatever it is she can’t believe it can compare to his feelings for his wife.

She’s _not_ Emilie, and she never will be, and she can’t just be some temporary source of comfort for him while they try.

Adrien’s still watching them and if she had no idea how she should be acting in front of him before now she’s even more lost about what the appropriate behaviour is when she’s _not_ in or going to be in a relationship with his father.

She can understand why Gabriel admitted what he did to Adrien last night, and she’s always wished that he’d be more honest than his son, but she’d wished they could have held back until they’d have a chance to speak.

Apparently she’s not been the only one trying to build up her confidence, because Adrien takes a determined drink of his orange juice and then deliberately meets her eyes.

“I hope you’re feeling better this morning Nathalie.” Adrien says, throwing her off until she remembers her excuse for not going to dinner with them last night.

“Thanks for asking but I’m feeling much better. I think I just caught a little bit too much sun yesterday.” She says, but she can’t help second guessing her words even as she says them. She’s _fairly_ certain there wasn’t any innuendo to be found in them though.

Adrien’s eyes dart to his father which is hardly reassuring, but whatever expression Gabriel makes all his says is, “What’s the plan for today then?”

Oh no. They were meant to be taking a trip to the Lérins Islands today but they can’t take Gabriel _and_ his counterpart with them, and Gabriel would never agree to send Adrien by himself with his bodyguard, and honestly she doesn’t want that either. Even when Gabriel was back in Paris she’d wanted it to at Adrien to at least _think_ they were going it all together.

“Nathalie?” Adrien asks looking worried.

She’s taken too long to answer, but she still doesn’t know what answer she should be giving. She should at least try to compose her face and reassure Adrien but she doesn’t even feel capable of that right now.

Next thing she knows Gabriel’s put an arm round her shoulders and pulled her into him. “If you’re not feeling up to going out we don’t have to.”

He presses a kiss to the top of her hand, clearly totally unconcerned with pretending nothing is happening between them to Adrien. Which is admittedly impossible but this is really _not_ helpful if they’re going to be breaking his romantic ideals by not starting a relationship.

She shoves her emotions to the side. That will all have to be dealt with later. At least Gabriel’s given her an out.

She does her best to meet Adrien’s eyes hoping he’ll see the apology in them and miss the lies. “I’m sorry Adrien, would you mind if we mind if we just stayed here today?”

“Why would I mind that?” He asked. “We’re on holiday, we don’t have to always doing something.”

“Well no.” She admits “But,”

Gabriel interrupts “You know how determined Nathalie is for us to stick to our schedules.”

Adrien grimaces somewhat, “Yeah, I know that.”

She faintly insulted. She’s only doing her job. It’s not like either of them know that she likes to plan out everything she does in her spare time too. Even if these days that’s mostly just staring at the television in exhaustion.

“So if you’re not feeling well, then are we best at the pool or?”

Well _that’s_ not going to work. Thankfully there’s other options. She stands up dislodging Gabriel’s arm. “Oh no, you shouldn’t be held back with by us. I’m sure if I ring down know I can get you booked into another windsurfing class, or something else if you’d prefer it.”

“Um, you really don’t need to do that. I’m sure I can amuse myself fine.” Adrien says.

Gabriel backs her up though. “No, I think that’s a good idea. You should get something out of the day Adrien.”

He looks between them as if trying to decide which one of them he has more chance of appealing to, though she doesn’t know what he thinks _she_ might be able to, but they must provide a united enough looking front that he just looks back down at his plate and returns to his breakfast, although he does cut his toast with rather for force than it can possibly really need.

* * *

He watches his son and his bodyguard leave the room. Adrien still doesn’t seem happy at the situation, and he does recognise the irony of coming down here to spend time with Adrien only to have to end up sending him away from him, but he really does need to talk to Nathalie in private.

Although unfortunately what he’s actually getting is time to speak to Nathalie while a magical copy of himself watches them which isn’t the same at all really, for all that it is in many ways an extension of the both of them.

“You can come out now. They’re gone.” He calls to it. He’d prefer to leave it in there all day, but unfortunately he’s fairly certain Nathalie would say he’s being cruel, which is unfair given the duplicate isn’t even a person. “Breakfast is still out there for you.”

“Where’s Nathalie?” It asks, and he wonders at her not saying where she was going when she went back to his room to redress.

“Her room.” He tells him, “She wanted to get clean clothes.”

“Hmm” is all he gets in response as the other heads out to get food.

Left actually by himself he has to wonder what exactly he’s doing. This isn’t how he’d envisaged any of this. He’d meant to slowly ease himself into spending time casually with Nathalie and Adrien, and to test the waters between him and her. Instead he’s spent one night with her in his arms and now he’s not sure he can go back to sleeping without her.

This is a betrayal of Emilie. He knows that. So why doesn’t it feel like that?

The door to the corridor clicks as Nathalie swipes his roomcard and makes her way in.

She’s wearing the emerald green shift dress and his finger’s itch to re-adjust her hair so it sits just so, and he wants to give her complementary earrings, and find sunglasses in her prescription in the perfect shape for it.

He wants too to see her like this more often. Like this he can forget that their relationship is supposed to be about work.

She blushes slightly at his gaze upon her.

“Where’s he?” She asks.

She doesn’t need to be more specific. There’s only one _he_ it could be. “Eating out on the terrace.”

“Ok.” She says and walks over to him. To his disappointment she takes the armchair instead of sitting on the sofa with him.

This is his chance. It’s not here. He can ask her without her feeling pressured.

“Why is it still here? I understand that you thought you needed it even after you lost control, but you’ve _me_ here now. You could dismiss it, and we could go out and spend the day with Adrien. ”

She sits up and turns to look at him. “Him.”

“What?”

“You want me to dismiss _him_ not it.”

He’s noticed vaguely how she’d been referring to and acting like it was real but, “It’s a sentimonster. Not a person.”

She sighs. “I’m not so sure those two things are as different as we thought. All of this, it was a mistake, we knew they could have minds of their own, I shouldn’t have made him without researching further into what I was doing.”

He’s torn between not wanting to cause her further distress and wanting that thing gone as soon as possible. She can’t understand what it’s like watching something walking around with your face, and knowing that it wants what you want, and that it’s been made to be _better_ than you with the people you love.

“We can’t bring it back to Paris with us.” He tries to explain. “Buying a false identity is one thing but he _looks like me,_ how on earth would we explain that?”

“I know. I know, it’s difficult, and I’ve been wondering if maybe we could change his appearance somehow to make it work.”

“Nathalie.” He tries to halt her.

“Look, I know this is weird for you, it’s weird for _me,_ but I can’t do it Gabriel. I just can’t.”

He leans forward as if the shorter distance will somehow bridge this gap between them as well.

“I don’t understand.” She cares for it, that much is clear but the why eludes him, “It’s been less than a week, it’s only yesterday that you haven’t been in control of it. Why do you care so much?”

She gives him a sad smile. “He’s you. How can I not?”

He wants to pull her close and hold her until she forgets what’s making her sad. He wants to see her give him a real smile, a happy one. He wants to know exactly what she just said means, because yes, she’d said she had feelings for him-feelings she thought were completely unrequited, but she hadn’t said what they are.

“You’re asking me effectively to go up to _you,_ and kill you. I can’t do it.” She says.

A shadow crosses the space between them.

“Well, _I’m_ glad to hear that.” The sentimonster says. 

Gabriel can’t even find it in himself to be surprised. He’d known it wouldn’t leave them in here to talk for long. Not when the likely topic was so obvious. He wouldn’t have if their places were reversed.

Nathalie gives it the same watery smile she’d just given him a moment earlier.

“I’ve been thinking about the Ladybug I made. I just revoked her life without a thought.” She breathes shakily, “She didn’t have as long with the keychain as you had with the bracelet, does that make it better?” Her head falls into her hands, “Am I a murderer? Did I kill someone and not care because she wasn’t anyone important to me. I know I’m Mayura, I know I’m a villain but that’s _different,_ or I thought it was. I mean no one gets hurt permanently do they? But she did. She’s gone.”

She looks up and fixes her teary eyes on him, “And, I’m doing it for you, you know that.”

“I do. Of course I do.” She’s no other reason to be involved in this. “And I owe you more than I can ever pay back.”

“Right. But I enjoy it sometimes, I enjoy being Mayura. Not hurting those kids necessarily but beating them? The power? The attention I command? The attention I get from _you_? I enjoy that. What sort of person enjoys being a supervillain? What sort of person am I?”

He does. Sometimes. Not the quest he’s stuck on, but sometimes when he makes contact and grants someone they’re powers it can be…fun.

Nathalie’s breath hitches and she crosses over from being on the verge of tears to actually crying.

For a moment his eyes met his copy’s with mirrored sheer utter panic on their faces. He knows what to do with a Nathalie in physical distress but he’d no idea what she’d want when the issue was emotional. For the first time since he’d discovered this mess he hoped his copy’s closer connection to Nathalie would mean he knew what to do, but apparently for all Nathalie’s protestations about creating it for her, she hadn’t left any impression of what she needed in a situation like this.

The only guidance he had was what she would do for him.

He got up from his place on the sofa and learnt over the side to her chair to wrap his arms around her the way she would do for him.

* * *

She thinks that maybe she’s needed to cry for a while because now she just can’t seem to stop.

She’s vaguely aware of a pair of arms encircling her and she wants to learn back into that warmth but the back of the chair stymies her attempt. That seems fair. It’s not like she deserves anyone’s affection. Not someone like her.

A confirmation of that comes a moment later when the weight of his arms leave her.

But then someone pulls the glasses her face and she’s pulled up into an embrace. She doesn’t resist when he walks her over the sofa awkward as it is, nor when he sits them back down again, and one of his hands rubs her back reassuringly.

Slowly she’s able to get herself a little bit under control and the frequency of her panicked breathing slows down.

Gabriel pulls away from her and she’s able to brush some of the tears from her face. The other Gabriel hands her a clump of tissues.

“You’re not a bad person.” He tells her.

That sets her off again, and though she can’t make out the expressions on their faces without her glasses and through the tears she does see them both turn to look at each over.

Before she has the time to wonder what they’re up to, Gabriel’s pulled her back against him, and then she feels a weight settle in the seat behind her and she’s being embraced from behind too.

She feels wanted in a way she hasn’t felt in years, if ever, and yet she still can’t stop crying.

Even when she does she can’t bring herself to emerge from the safe hold she’s in and confront the outside world.

Eventually, and how much time has passed she doesn’t know, she forces herself to move.

They let her go, but slowly as if they’re as loath to let go as she is. She inhales and sits up properly in the seat but makes no effort create any more space between her and them than she has to.

She looks at them in turn. “Thank you.”

Then she focuses on the one who was in front of her which she _hopes_ is the actual Gabriel.

“And thank you for saying that. Even if we both know it’s not true.”

“You’re _not._ ” He says, “Everything you’ve done you’ve done for me. I’m the one that’s responsible for that, and I’m the one who doesn’t deserve someone like you in my life. You almost _died_ because you were trying to help me, if that Miraculous gave you a little joy amongst all that terror then you deserved that.”

She feels uncomfortable at his praise. Somehow it feels like more of an upheaval in their relationship than waking up in his arms had been. He makes her sound selfless and she’s really not sure that she is, as much as she’s just selfish on someone else’s behalf.

“I’m not sure I deserve that sort of praise.” She admits.

“My dear, you deserve so much more than that.” He says, and she can see his head moving in towards hers.

She puts her hand up to his cheek and stops it even as she hates herself for doing so.

“No.”

“No?”

“I can’t do this.”

The sentimonster takes her hand and squeezes it as if to reassurance her. That would be much more comforting if she could be sure that he wasn’t looking over her at Gabriel in triumph.

Gabriel looks at her with clear confusion on his face, “I thought, you said you had feelings for me.”

“I do. And that’s why I can’t do this, I can’t be your mistress Gabriel. I care too much for you for that.”

She’s an idiot for Gabriel Agreste and that’s a fact, but even she has to draw a line somewhere. In other circumstances she might not have been able so, but she’s already had to look at _a_ Gabriel and reject him and what he’s offering twice yesterday. Hell, she’s been rejecting the sentimonster’s advances of what she wanted all week. She’s getting quite practised at it.

And even if she’s not good at protecting herself, she’s always done her best to protect _him_ and she knows he’d hate himself if they went any further.

“You wouldn’t be my,” he starts. 

“What would I be then exactly? We’re fighting to bring Emilie back, if we win, and I somehow survive that then where does that leave me? No if we’re going to do this and still have some sort of relationship after then we need to get ours back on a purely professional basis.”

“Why wouldn’t you survive? That Miraculous won’t be hurting you anymore I can guarantee you that. In fact, I’ve been thinking about making sure you won’t need to use it.”

What he means by that she can’t fathom. The whole point of getting that translation was so she could use it safely, but that brings her to her point.

“You’ve read the translated Grimoire. You know what it will take to bring her back.”

He looks at her earnestly, “What are you talking about? What does that have to do with you?”

“Well I’m going to have to be the one to do it aren’t I? It can’t be _you_ or that defeats the purpose of this whole thing _._ ”

He’s looking at her like she’s just started speaking in a different language.

Behind her the sentimonster is squeezing her hand so tightly she should probably be worried about her blood supply being cut off.

“I think you just proved you’re not the person you were painting yourself as earlier.” Gabriel says eventually.

“What?”

“I just assumed it would be someone random, someone I’d never met. I was willing to trade someone’s life for Emilie’s. If one of us here is a murderer then it’s _me,_ but I was never ever planning to take _yours_.”

He’s not lying, and she can’t understand that. If he’d said he couldn’t do it _now that_ would be believable. Even if he’d said that before this week she could believe it, could believe that having seen her near death from using the Peacock Miraculous he’d decided he couldn’t do it to someone he knew.

But that he’d _never_ planned that is much harder to convince herself of. She’d be nothing to him until they started doing this, and he’d never given any indication that he didn’t want what she was offering.

* * *

“I thought you knew. I thought you knew that was how it had to end. I thought maybe all of this, the dinners, and the clothes, and the effective holiday that doesn’t come out of my holiday time, I thought it was because you felt bad.”

It _had_ been. And it had been a way to force her to rest too because she’s not shaking off the effects of the Peacock Miraculous no matter what she’d claimed. But it hadn’t been an apology for _that._

She was never supposed to die. Even if it would get Emilie back that would be too great a price.

He looks at the distressed women in front of him, who apparently was ready to die for him, and he tries to reconcile the collected confident women he thought he knew with what he’s reduced her to.

He doesn’t understand how. He doesn’t deserve this. Her surname feels like a mockery when clearly her flaw is having too much heart and spending it too freely.

“I didn’t.”

She blinks at him in apparent confusion.

“And we’re not doing that.” He tells her.

“Gabriel?”

“We’ll find another way. Losing you to get her back isn’t an option. If that means not using the two Major Miraculous then so be it.”

Nathalie just stares at him. “But,” She starts and then trails off.

“He’s telling the truth.” The sentimonster says, “Tempting as it is to pretend he never cared for you and I do, I can’t do that to you. You can believe him about finding want to find another way.”

Nathalie turns towards it. “He’s spoken about giving up before. Do you remember that?”

The sentimonster looks again and doesn’t meet her eyes. Whether it’s because he doesn’t and he doesn’t want to admit to his lack of history, or because he does and he’s feels as badly about it right now as Gabriel does he doesn’t know.

She looks back at him, “Anyway it doesn’t change anything.”

He can’t stop himself, “It changes everything. This is your life we’re talking about.”

She rolls her eyes, and throws her outer hand in the end, “There is that.”

Whoever made her think her life was worth so little is someone he absolutely hates in that moment, and he’s utterly terrified at the idea that maybe it was _him_.

“But the point is, even if we find another way, you can’t have both of us.”

“See, that was the virtue of my plan.” The sentimonster says.

“Your plan?” Gabriel asked.

“For after we won. I had no idea of what Nathalie was planning either, so I thought we _could_ have both, you’d have Emilie, and I’d have Nathalie.”

That. That does make sense of his declaration yesterday even as part of him wants to ask why the sentimonster would get Nathalie and he, Emilie despite the answer being obvious. It’s a strange picture to imagine. His mirror image and he living out their lives in different places, with different women. It feels perverse.

“That doesn’t solve anything. Even if we were the same.” And he’s far from convinced of that, “We’re separate people, we wouldn’t have both, we’d each have one.”

Which should be what he should want but he doesn’t.

The sentimonster tips its head taking his point. An idea lights up his eyes and he starts speaking slowly, “Maybe we could,”

“If you’re going to say swap sometimes I will literally leave you both here to explain my disappearance to Adrien.” Nathalie cuts in.

He can’t blame her for that, but it’s certainly an idea. A seductive idea at that.

Nathalie’s looking at him now, “You’re considering it.” She says in accusation.

“Not seriously.” He defended himself, “I know neither of you would go for that.”

“Then you understand why I’m saying we need to stop this? I know it’s mainly been my fault, and this whole holiday has been confusing for us both but we can just forget about it. We have to if we’re going to get Emilie back.”

He looks at the physically and emotionally drained but alive woman in front of him, and then thinks of Emilie still and serene and lifeless in her casket, and he makes a selfish decision. 

“What if I don’t want to?”

“What do you mean?”

He takes a deep breath, and tries to tie together the thoughts he’s been having over the last few days, so they make enough sense to put into words.

“This quest Emilie set me on, I’ve been doing it because I loved her, and because I didn’t know if I could live without her, and because I swore a vow to her until death did us part. But I’m not succeeding, we’re no closer to bringing her back. All I’ve been doing is putting my life on hold until I can restart hers. I said yesterday I’d been missing out on the time I should have had holiday with you and Adrien, but I’ve been missing entire portions of his life trying to bring her back. Apparently he’s been off confessing his feelings to Ladybug and getting rejected, and I had no idea, and she’s my nemesis-I should know these sorts of things. So if I didn’t know about _that_ then what else am I missing out on?

And Emilie, I think Emilie might be gone and I’m never going to be able to revive her, and I don’t know that I can keep throwing my life, and _your_ life away after hers.”

He can see the hope growing in Nathalie’s eyes and that, combined with seeing the sentimonster behind her ready to take her for his own if he falters, gives him the strength to continue on.

“I think I want to stop. And I know I don’t want to pretend there’s nothing between us.”

Maybe he could have if he’d never driven down here. If Nathalie had arrived back in Paris, back dressed the way he’s used to seeing her and in her usual subservient role, than maybe, even if she _had_ had the sentimonster in tow, he could have ignored what was happening between them for a little while longer.

He’s been doing it for long enough after all.

Nathalie still looks like she can’t quite believe what she’s hearing but then her face slowly starts to form into that true smile he’d wanted to see from her earlier.

“You’re sure?”

“I am.”

He recognises her intention as she twists her hips and is just about able to brace himself before she moves and not be knocked over, but he’s still wholly unprepared for ending up with a lapful of Nathalie.

One of her hands goes to his shoulder and the other to the back of his neck and her lips hover millimetres from his making her intentions quite clear.

Still she hesitates. “Is this ok?”

“More than ok.” He confirms.

He can’t quite tell which of them closed the gap.

In fact he’s too consumed by the feeling of her lips on his, and her tongue, and the taste of her mouth to really think of anything else at all.

When they break for air there’s a little more space in his brain and he thinks idly that if he’d realised this was on offer he might have more seriously considered stopping much earlier. The moment he thinks it though he knows it’s a lie. He had to be ready to stop.

He’s memorising how her face, and how she looks just kissed and sitting in his lap when he notices one of the dried tear tracks on her face and a wash of guilt comes over him.

After all he’s done to her already maybe taking this like this is too much.

His hand loosens from where it had been gripping her hip.

“Gabriel?” Nathalie tilts her head confused by his withdrawal but he can already see the fear in her eyes.

“I wasn’t lying.” He tells her, “I want _this,_ and I want you, and I want to live the life we could have had if I’d never heard of anything Miraculous. I want to stop, but I can’t guarantee you I won’t be tempted. I can’t promise that some emotion someday won’t be too much for me to resist.”

“Ok.” Nathalie says and he waits for her to climb off him.

By some miracle she doesn’t. “I’m not expecting this to be easy for you. If you were the sort of man who found it easy to abandon her and move on, then I wouldn’t be here, I honestly would just be your assistant and that would be all there is to us. I know this is going to be hard for you, but if you’re willing to try, then I’m willing to help. I’ve aided you sending out akumas, I’m more than willing to try to help you _not_ send them out.”

How he’s been blessed with her he’ll never know. It’s certainly not because he deserves her.

He’s about to pull her back in, when a cough interrupts them.

“I am still here you know.” The sentimonster says.

Nathalie buries her face in his shoulder in what’s likely embarrassment.

He doesn’t exactly share it. They’re not doing anything the other wouldn’t do if he was the one to have Nathalie here, and he’s tempted to kiss her again just to establish which of them she’s chosen, but he can admit it’s not exactly an ideal circumstance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no plot just emotions


	7. Chapter 7

It’s possible that lying down on the couch with Gabriel behind her and his arm around her torso _isn’t_ actually the most effective way for both of them to do research on the powers of the Peacock Miraculous on the tablet.

She can’t really bring herself to care though.

Not when she could have never expected this ever, and when both of them can quite easily tell that the other would want more if not for the circumstances.

She does slightly regret not rather worn a longer more flowing dress or skirt whenever she catches Gabriel’s copy’s eyes on her upper thigh where the dress is bunched up under Gabriel’s lower hand.

And she _definitely_ regrets having to sit through the bickering between the two men but she’s starting to think that it’d exist even without her presence. Whether it’s the strangeness sharing space with someone identical to you or something else they just incapable of not trying to provoke each other.

“You do make me regret not ending you immediately.” Gabriel says.

“It’s fortunate that decision isn’t in your hands.” The sentimonster snipes back.

“That’s a big assumption. Just because Nathalie won’t let me use the Peacock doesn’t mean I couldn’t use another Miraculous on you.”

“Because there’s so many Miraculouses around here.”

“Well you know, Chat Noir’s been mysteriously missing from Paris. Maybe he’s on holiday too.”

She turns her head away from the tablet to look at Gabriel, “You’re not cataclysming him. It wouldn’t work anyway. And even if Chat Noir _is_ on holiday, the chances of him being here in the same town as the two of us are infinitesimally small.”

“Logically you’re right. But I don’t feel like there’s been much logic in our world recently.”

“I’ve give you that much.” She admits. “But I really don’t think he'd cataclysm him for you.

“And I think Chat Noir might be receptive. Tell me that’s not a boy dealing with romantic issues of his own.”

“Who does Father want to cataclysm?” Adrien asked. 

Gabriel’s hand tightened on her thigh as they both jolted in panic. Even the sentimonster was looking at her wide-eyed as if looking for instruction.

Heart-racing, she sat up and looked over the back of the couch to find him standing in the doorway to the room, and desperately tried to work out if he could see his father from there, and at what point in the conversation he’d entered the room. “Adrien. I thought we were going down to meet you for lunch.”

He shrugged, “My group finished early so I thought I might as well come up and get you.”

Clearly he couldn’t see his father behind on her on the couch, only the copy on at the desk, and he couldn’t have heard them reference the Peacock Miraculous or he wouldn’t be acting so calm about all of this this. She can only thank god that he can’t have seen the duplicate’s face well enough to notice he hadn’t been the one talking.

Adrien’s eyes looked between them, and at the tablet and paper notes scattered over the desk in front of the sentimonster. “Are you two _working?”_

He sounds irrationally betrayed by this, but she has no time to process _that_ before he takes a step towards them, striking another dose of fear into her heart.

“Why don’t we get going then?” She offers standing up, and hoping against hope that Gabriel has the sense to _stay down_ until she can get Adrien out of the room, and that the boy in question won’t notice the strained quality in her voice.

“Um, you don’t want me to change?”

She can’t stop her eyes from looking between the suite door, and Adrien’s room and calculating the sight line.

Moving round the sofa to forestall Adrien coming any further forward, she heads over to him and the door wishing she’d had the chance to look back at Gabriel, or at least give him some quick squeeze of reassurance, but she hadn’t dared do anything that might alert Adrien to someone’s presence there.

“No that’d be pointless, not when you’re going back out this afternoon. Come on. We’ll go to the pool bar.”

“Is Father coming with us?”

“Of course.” The sentimonster says, standing up from the desk, where he’s collected their notes into piles while she and Adrien have been talking. “Sorry. I just needed to finish this up.”

“You do know we’re on holiday right?” Adrien says, but even as he says it he finally turns to open the door and head back out into the corridor, and she has to stop herself from too obviously relaxing in relief.

“I don’t do well with doing nothing.” He says in response as they head to the lift. “Nathalie wasn’t feeling up to much,”

“So you made her _work?_ ”

“So I let her relax on couch, while _I_ tried to get ahead of myself at work a bit.” 

“ _Are_ you ok Nathalie? I know you said you were better earlier but you always seem so tired all the time now.” Adrien asks, making her feel even worse about everything they have to hide from him, when he’s seeming so concerned for her.

She wants to just say that she’s fine but she’s already told him that and then apparently proved otherwise. The annoying thing is that it _is_ the truth. Even with all of this going on she does feel less exhausted than she has in months, even if she’s been running on pure adrenaline for the last day or so.

“I have been a bit run down this last few months, but you really don’t need to worry, I’m going to be fine.”

The sentimonster puts his hand around her waist, and she has to stop herself from tensing up. “She is. I’m going to make sure of it.”

Before when the sentimonster touched her it had only bothered her insofar as she’d been concerned about what exactly was going to happen, and whether she could be trusted not to take advantage when part of her was enjoying it.

Now she and Gabriel are actually in some sort of relationship, if one they haven’t quite defined yet, now that she’s had his hands on her where his copy’s are right now without the two of them being transformed or her being ill and needing support it feels wrong and faintly repulsive _._

She knows rationally she’s not doing anything wrong, and that if she throws his hand off her it’s only going to raise more questions for Adrien, but it doesn’t make her any more comfortable with the situation.

It also means she doesn’t feel able to message Gabriel the way she’d wanted to to apologise and clarify how she should respond to Adrien if he asked about them, and she just _knows_ he’s going to ask about them.

When the lift doors open on the ground floor of the hotel she takes the chance to slip out of his hold. That much won’t look odd, and she doubts Gabriel would want to publicise the change in their relationship just yet. _She_ certainly doesn’t. She knows the names she’ll get called and how she’ll get judged. 

Once they’re sat down at the pool Adrien looks at them, and worries his lip.

“Father?” He asks eventually, “Things _have_ changed from last night right?”

Remembering her conversation in bed with Gabriel this morning about _his_ conversation with Adrien she realises that there’s only one thing that can mean.

Things were supposed to get _easier_ once she’d got Adrien out of the room and away from the possibility of realising there were two versions of his father walking around, but obviously that couldn’t be the case. Not with her luck.

The sentimonster doesn’t seem to share her hesitance. “Nathalie and I have spoken.” He says taking her hand and lifting it onto the table where Adrien can see, “And we’ve decided that we’re going to try embarking on a relationship, and see where it takes us.”

Adrien’s face lights up, a grin splitting his face, “That’s great you guys! I’m so happy for you.”

Nathalie forces herself to paste a smile onto her face rather than issuing a panicked denial. Technically the sentimonster hasn’t said anything false, that _is_ what she and Gabriel are doing, and while usually she’d have preferred not to tell Adrien until it was a bit more established the circumstances mean it’s not really as if they could keep it a secret from him-not with what he already knows.

It’s probably a good thing he’s said that even. Hopefully Adrien will think that they’re less of a mess than they are and think they spoke last night which would at least put a better complexion on her staying in his room.

None of this makes her feel any better. She should be telling Adrien about her relationship with his father _with his father,_ not with a magical copy of his father who’s already proven himself to be far too happy to say things that she and Gabriel would much rather keep hidden.

She looks down at their entwined hands on the table, hoping Adrien will take it for shyness, instead of her trying to work out how she can remove it in a way that won’t look totally odd after that declaration.

“Thank you.” The sentimonster says to Adrien reminding her that she should really say something too.

Adrien looks sincere but he’s both a generally polite and kindhearted child and she realises guiltily that never she nor Gabriel had _really_ given any thoughts to his feelings to their relationship when they, or more precisely she had decided to abandon any ideas of keeping things platonic. 

She does believe wholeheartedly that while Adrien misses his mother Gabriel continuing as Hawkmoth is no longer the best thing for him. She’d wanted to repair Gabriel’s family for him, but everything he said up there about how they’re not winning and how he’s missing out on Adrien’s life are thoughts she’d been having for a while. So as bad as it sounds she doesn’t feel that guilty about helping prevent the chances of reviving his mother, so long as she can help give him back his father.

Yet that doesn’t mean that Adrien’s really ready for another woman in his father’s life. Things have been different here, it’s almost feels like a break from their reality, but she can’t help but worry that Adrien won’t be so sanguine about this development once they’re back to Paris and their real lives.

“Are you sure you’re ok with this?” She asks him, “I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to replace your mother.”

Adrien turns an unimpressed look on his father, and part of her enjoys the boldness of it where usually she’d take a thorough dislike to anyone looking at Gabriel like that.

“Did my father not tell you? He knows I'm _happy_ for you to become a more official part of my family. I know you’ve been trying to recover Mom, but I don’t blame you for it not working out.”

He can’t know they’re Hawkmoth and Mayura. He _can’t._ She sees the amount of Ladybug merchandise he buys, there’s no _way_ he’d take that revelation lying down like this. He can’t know the full story but he knows something, and she loves Gabriel but the two of them are really going to have to have a talk about sharing pertinent information.

Adrien puts his hand over theirs, “This week has shown we can all move on together, and I don’t want things to go back to how they’ve been.”

Oh no. Gabriel should be here for this. She can tell him about it afterwards but it won’t be the same. Adrien’s baring his heart and his father isn’t even here to see it.

And what’s more she can’t promise him what he’s asking for _._ Gabriel wants to try but he’s still Gabriel, and now he’s here she can admit she’d been indulgent in how she’d let the sentimonster act when she was still in control.

She’d only wanted to make Adrien happy in a sort of apology for how she’d been deceiving him, but she’d been creating the fantasy she wanted too, and recreating that with the real Gabriel is going to be much harder than controlling an amokatised object.

“That’s very sweet of you.” She forces herself to say, “I didn’t realise your father had spoken to you about your mother, and what we’re been doing.”

“Well, we only spoke about it last night. I guess the two of you have probably had loads of other stuff to talk about since then.”

Well that’s certainly true, even if they’ve probably only had half the conversations they should have. It does make her feel better that Gabriel has had _some_ sort of conversation about Emilie before he decided to try to move on. It makes her a little more confident that he won’t backslide into akumatising people again.

She’d said she’d try help him stop and she will but unless he gives up the Butterfly Miraculous she’s not really sure what she can do except try and distract him. She’s not sure trying to seduce him each time he feels a negative emotion is a particularly workable strategy but it’s the best one she’s come up with so far.

Thankfully their food comes and she’s able to take the chance to recover her hand from the sentimonster’s grip with dignity.

The conversation recedes a bit as they start eating but the Sentimonster starts talking, ““Actually, on the subject of the week, Nathalie and I were thinking that we might extend our stay here a bit.”

She can’t stop her head turning towards him in shock. She and Gabriel had been considering the idea, though they’d been thinking about maybe moving to a more private apartment or villa, since he had missed out on the time the rest of them had had together, and she’d thought some time away from Paris and his butterflies might help his help his resolution, but they hadn’t decided for definite.

She’s distracted from wondering what her errant creation is up to when Adrien yells “No!”

Both she and the sentimonster sit back; equally thrown at the spectacle of Adrien raising his voice to his father.

Adrien pales, before continuing in a more normal voice, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that but please you’ve got to listen to me. We can’t do that. I have to get back to Paris.”

“Why? I can’t see what’s so important it would justify that sort of response.” Gabriel’s copy says.

Adrien’s hand sheepishly goes to the back of his neck. “Um, I’ve stuff I need to do?”

“That’s hardly a reason to change our plans.”

“ _You’re_ the one changing our plans.” Adrien pouts then brightens, “Anyway, I’ll get behind on my Chinese and piano if we stay here, you can’t want that.”

The duplicate waves off his objections, “Nathalie can sort that out for you to study here.” 

“You don’t understand. It’s really important we go home.”

Nathalie’s completely lost. Adrien likes it here. He‘d just told them that. He’d been worried about going home and things going back to normal when she’d spoken to him the other night. She can’t see what on earth could have provoked this change in emotion.

Unless. She interrupts. “Adrien. Is this related to what we talked about before? I know you miss your friends, but they won’t forget you just because you’re away another week.”

He shifts in what even she can see is discomfort. “That’s not really it exactly.”

“Then what is it?”

Adrien bit his lip. “I don’t understand why we’re staying here longer anyway. I thought you couldn’t take that much time away from the company.”

Nathalie glances over at the copy of Gabriel and once again wishes that the real man was here. Hopefully he’ll forgive her for what she’s about to do.

She swallows and starts talking before she can lose her confidence, “You’ve noticed things have been a bit more relaxed this week.”

“Yeah?” Says Adrien still seeming confused.

“Your father’s been trying to break some bad habits he’s developed. Being away from Paris, it’s been helpful for that. We’re not really ready to return yet.”

Adrien looks uneasy at this appeal to the love he has for his father. “Father? Is this true?”

The sentimonster nods, giving her some small relief.

“Like how you said you were trying to get used to going out more?”

“That’s part of it, yes.”

Gabriel is _not_ going to be happy with her.

Adrien frowns. “Is it _that_ important that we’re here? If you tell me what you’re doing couldn’t Nathalie and I support you through it at home?”

The sentimonster grimaces. “It’s a bit more serious than I think you’re realising. Nathalie _is_ doing her best to help me, but,”

“If we don’t get this sorted out your father and I won’t be in any sort of relationship.” It’s another truth but she still feels bad trying to guilt Adrien into unknowingly making it easier for his father to stop being Hawkmoth.

Adrien blinks, “I don’t understand. Are you saying this is some sort of addiction or something?”

“Something of that ilk.” He admits.

He’s not wrong actually but she’s not sure Gabriel’s going to like it when he hears they’ve likened his devotion to his Emilie to an addiction.

“I guess we could stay a little longer if you really think it’s going to be helpful.” Adrien says but he looks uncomfortable, and she can’t blame him. 

An awkward silence falls over the table after that and they all find themselves picking at their food making only stilted conversation.

As they get ready to leave Adrien hesitates. “Um, so don’t be mad? But I sort of told the hotel staff I wouldn’t be doing my afternoon activities? Because I thought we could hang out together.”

Her heart feels like a rock in her chest. This poor boy.

“Adrien.” The sentimonster reprimands him, “That was badly done. You know you can’t just change things like that without asking us.”

Adrien looks down at his feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, but I thought it was going to be our last full day and I wanted to spend it with you.”

“That’s not an excuse.” The copy says, “But I suppose now you’ve done it we might as well stay here by the pool together.”

She considers her options. He does seem to be acting like Gabriel, and he’s never given her any reason to think Adrien’s in danger from him, even if she _does_ suspect he enjoys making things difficult for his progenitor. It should be safe to take the chance to escape and fill Gabriel in.

“If you want to find some beds, I’ll go change into something more suitable.” She says giving in.

“Go on then,” the sentimonster says, looking at her in the way she’s just started to realise is how Gabriel looks at her when he’s feeling particularly fond of her.

It shouldn’t look so similar coming from him.

Adrien on the other hand seems to have no issues deciphering his apparent father’s expression, and unlike her he doesn’t have the necessary information to feel disquieted by it.

“You can kiss her if you want.” He says, “I don’t mind.”

She’s about to tell Adrien that there’s no need for that and when the sentimonster pulls her in closer with a hand on her back and presses their lips together.

For the second time in 24 hours she’s frozen in shock at a Gabriel kissing her, but when this one tries to deepen it, she manages to pull her head away.

“Not in public.” She hisses at him wishing that she could express her true feelings about what on earth he’d just done. There was no need for that to preserve their charade in front of Adrien. It’s not as if it would have looked odd if they’d said they wanted to keep things more private.

And he _knows_ she’s rejected him. He shouldn’t have done that.

She’s been defending his right to exist since Gabriel’s arrival but right now she really really wishes she had the bracelet again.

* * *

He’s got very very little done since Nathalie and Adrien’s left.

It had taken time to settle himself down from the shock of almost discovery despite the fact that rationally he knows that even if Adrien _had_ seen him it’s not as if his identify as Hawkmoth would be the obvious explanation for the situation.

They could probably have explained the sentimonster away as a body double for security reasons or public appearances or something.

Even once he was over that original shock though he’s found himself pacing the room instead of doing any proper research.

He doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like that Nathalie and Adrien are down there with that copy of him, and that he has no control over the situation, or any idea what’s happening or what’s being said.

Nathalie hasn’t been in contact which suggests that she’s not able to, and while logically he knows that it’s most likely she’s just doesn’t want to do anything suspicious in front of Adrien it still feeds his unease.

Nooroo’s attempts at reassurance don’t help at all, and eventually he snaps at the Kwami and tells it to be quiet unless he has anything useful to say.

Suddenly he’s hit by a tumult of emotion close by.

For once he doesn’t feel the slightest desire to send out an akuma. He recognises the source. _Nathalie._

Uncaring about keeping up their pretence he dashes to the door to the corridor and opens it, to find her alone outside the door going through her bag.

“Gabriel.” She looks up at him.

She’s shaking.

He pulls her inside before anyone can see, shutting the door behind her, without releasing his hold on her.

“Where’s Adrien?” He asks. Something’s unnerved her. That much is clear.

“Down by the pool with the sentimonster.” A shadow crosses her face, and something which he thinks might be guilt comes through his Miraculous, “He should be safe I think but I shouldn’t leave them for long.”

Her reluctance to go back down is clear.

“What happened?” He presses.

She looks up to meet his eyes. “Can you kiss me?”

That’s a request he’s happy to grant, even if he doesn’t understand how it relates to his question.

The kiss feels desperate. She clings to him like she’s drowning, and when he pushes her up against the wall one of her legs wraps round him immediately. The other one follows quickly.

Enjoyable as it is on a purely physical level, he, and he can’t quite believe he’s thinking this, can’t take the satisfaction in this turn of events that he’d expect to. He’s been in frenzied lust-filled situations before and that’s not what’s going on here. Whatever Nathalie’s chasing it’s not enjoyment.

He’s not a good man but that doesn’t mean he wants to take advantage of someone he cares for. Nathalie was his friend before he had any inkling to look at her like this.

Forcing himself to pull away, he says, “Nathalie, what happened?”

Now she’s no longer frantically trying to speed things up he actually finds the position they’re in quite comfortable. Something to get back to at another time.

“He kissed me.” The words leave her mouth in a rush, “Adrien was trying to be helpful and encouraged him to, and he kissed me before I could do anything. And it wasn’t a peck on the lips, I don’t know when he would have stopped if I didn’t pull away.”

The incandescent rage that fills him at her words would make him a great candidate for akumatisation right now. He’s not even sure that he’s even got this angry on any of the occasions when the heroes have thwarted him before.

He presses a kiss to her hairline in reassurance. “Oh Nathalie. I know you don’t want to revoke the amok, but if you’re in danger then we can’t hesitate.”

She looks up at him through her eyelashes, “You’re not cross?”

“I’m furious. It knows you chose me, what on earth was it doing?”

“I don’t know. He’s supposed to be what I wanted, but I didn’t want that I promise you.”

“No, no I can tell that.” He strokes her hair in reassurance as she lets her head fall against his shoulder. “What was Adrien doing encouraging him?”

“Adrien doesn’t know it’s not you. He was trying to be nice. We um,” She swallows, “The sentimonster told him that you and me are giving a relationship a go.”

He should feel some sense of loss at this having missed out on informing Adrien himself but in fact he feels relieved that it’s out in the open and he wasn’t the one to have to say it.

“Well, we _are_ , I assume Adrien took it well?”

“He did.” Nathalie tilts her head up to better look at him, “I hear you’ve been talking to him about us trying to bring Emilie back.”

“Not the specifics.”

“No I didn’t think so. “ She laughs “He seemed far too happy for that. It’s good though. That you were able to talk to him about it. Good for both of you.”

“I hope so.” He says, “Did anything else happen before it assaulted you?”

“I don’t know that that’s the right word for what happened.” Nathalie demurs but before he can correct her she startles, and he has to make sure he’s got a good hold on her and she won’t fall, “Oh, he told Adrien we’re extending our trip. _That_ didn’t go down well. He’s frantic to get back to Paris.”

“Really?” He can’t understand that. What the sentimonster thinks he’s doing is odd enough but Adrien’s reaction is even stranger. “I thought he was enjoying it here.” It had certainly looked like that from his Instagram posts and messages.

“He _is_ but he seems convinced there’s something he needs to do back home. I’ve no idea what.”

That’s disconcerting. He doesn’t like the idea that there’s so much of Adrien’s life he’s suddenly become unaware of. Both Nathalie and Adrien would be disappointed in him if he withdrew Adrien from school again tempting as it and the opportunity it presents to take control is but at least maybe if he’s not devoting time to Hawkmoth then he’ll have time to try to work out what Adrien’s hiding from him.

“That’s something to deal with when we get back to Paris. I assume the sentimonster didn’t give him a choice in the matter.”

“No, Adrien agreed.” She hesitates. “I should warn you the sentimonster may have given him the impression that you’re got some sort of addiction.”

 _“Addiction?”_ He thinks he manages to keep his voice fairly level given the subject but he’s sure Nathalie can see through it. 

“I admitted to Adrien that you were trying to change some habits and wanted to be away from Paris for a bit, I guess I thought he’d be so eager to spend more time with you he’d be happier to stay here and would accept things better. Your copy ran with it a bit.”

“What sort of addiction?” He asks dreading the answer. The idea that Adrien might think he’s an alcoholic like his own father had been, or some sort of drug addict is horrible; he’d never respect him properly again.

“He didn’t specify. I don’t think Adrien thinks it’s a substance issue though thankfully.”

Something behavioural then. He suddenly feels a chill, and is glad for Nathalie’s warmth wrapped around him. His love for Emilie isn’t anything as base as a messed-up compulsion and yet, in how he’d acted on it, how single-minded he’d been, how he treated the people he cared about, maybe he _had_ acted like an addict, chasing the rush of each akuma attack.

He remembers his mother being worn down by her attempts to try to cover up his father’s drinking and smooth things over with people he offended and it’s uncomfortable how reminiscent it is of what _he’s_ done to Nathalie.

At least the only teenagers _he’s_ hit are unrelated ones.

“Gabriel?” Nathalie asks at his lack of response.

“It’s alright. I was just thinking.”

Nathalie hums in response and lets her head fall back against him.

Far too soon she sighs, and releases first one then the other leg. “I should go. I was only supposed to be getting changed.”

“I don’t like the idea of you being down there with it.”

“Can you give me another option?”

He can’t. He’d _like_ for one of them to transform now with the Peacock Miraculous and revoke the amok but they can’t until the sentimonster is out of other people’s sight and out of Adrien’s sight.

“Ring me if anything happens.” He says pressing a good luck kiss to her cheek.

“I will.” She promises.

She pauses with her hand on the door and shakes her head with a sad smile. “Do you know, I was thinking that maybe if I could make _him_ into someone else that didn’t look like you then maybe I could bring back the Ladybug sentimonster-I still have the key chain you know, and you know raise her, atone for that. But if I can’t even trust _him,_ I couldn’t trust a girl who’s already rejected me.”

“It’s not your fault.” He tries to reassure her. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. Besides we couldn’t give Adrien a stepsister who looks identical to Ladybug.”

He is _not_ dealing with that sort of nonsense in his house.

That does provoke a small smile from her. “No. That wouldn’t be a good idea would it?”

* * *

It’s _difficult_ down at the pool. Adrien keeps smiling at her and she keeps having to pretend she’s happy to be here, and that she likes the man sitting next to her when all she wants to do so go back upstairs and curl up with Gabriel.

This is _so_ much worse than when his advances were more directly her fault. At least then she’d known she could stop him.

Now she has _no idea_ what he might do next.

She should have asked Duusu what the Kwami knew about sentimonsters after he got the bracelet but she’s been trying not to wear the brooch while they’re been away, and in truth there hasn’t really been the time either.

At least Adrien still seems concerned enough about her fatigue that he’s not really pushing her to get too involved in anything, but even watching them in the pool she can’t push down the underlying sense of unease.

This has to be a punishment from the universe for misusing the Miraculous’ power. If everything was right in the world then he’d never have taken the bracelet and she could have dismissed her creation when Gabriel arrived without it ever gaining sentience.

Gabriel might have been slower to come to the conclusions of the last few days if they hadn’t had the sentimonster there to provoke all their admissions but he’d come down before he knew what happened, when he thought she was all in control of this. They could have got there anyway, even if it was slower.

And slower might have been good. It all seems so simple when she’s in his arms but even without his copy’s uncomfortable attention, her emotions are a mess whenever she’s left to herself. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. What _they’re_ doing.

Gabriel had said stepsister up there and she knows better than to read too much into _that,_ when trying to describe the actual relationship there would be a mouthful but she has no idea how he’s expecting them to work in the practical sense. Somehow she struggles to imagine Gabriel coming over to her apartment.

The admission of what they’d spoken about with Adrien upstairs had gone better than she’d thought it would though. Gabriel really is _trying_. Maybe this can still all work out ok despite all its issues.

She keeps her phone out to send a reassuring text to Gabriel.

The sentimonster’s still making her uneasy but he’s yet to do anything that crosses a line like earlier.

“Hey,” Adrien says sitting down next to her.

“Where’s your father?” She asks with no small amount of panic.

“Getting drinks.” He says pointing over at the pool bar, where thankfully she can make out the sentimonster talking to the bar staff.

“I see.”

“Um, so, who did my father want to Cataclysm earlier?”

She hoped he’d forgotten that. “No one important.”

“Right. Father doesn’t really think he’s around somewhere does he? Because I’m sure your ex-boyfriend or whoever deserves it, but I think cataclysming people is kind of a no-no for being a superhero.”

“My ex-boyfriend?”

Adrien blushes and his hand rubs his neck sheepishly, “Father said Chat Noir would sympathise because he had romantic issues too?”

From a certain angle Adrien isn’t entirely wrong but she is _not_ thinking of the sentimonster as a romantic option.

“It’s not my,” She sighs. “Your father isn’t going to be asking Chat Noir to cataclysm anyone. It was a joke.”

“Ok.”

She’s almost glad to see the sentimonster come over with the drinks. Adrien eagerly takes a bright red concoction of some sort that she’s fairly sure he’s requested just because it reminds him of Ladybug. He’s lucky his father’s rich or his Ladybug merchandise obsession would be unaffordable.

She’s handed some sort of turquoise cocktail that matches both her outfit and the swimming pool in colour, and actually that does seem like something Gabriel might do.

“Thanks.” She forces herself to say as if she doesn’t just want this whole thing to be over.

Thankfully Adrien carries the conversation with a bunch of ideas for what they could do together when they get back to Paris. It plunges her back into the sea of guilt she’s been swimming in for most of this holiday because much as Gabriel _wants_ to move on he’s not ready for the sort of allegedly fun-filled social schedule Adrien seems to be planning.

She does see the irony in that.

And, she’d _known_ Adrien missed the relationship he had with his father when his mother was still around but she hadn’t realised that it had got to this stage of elaborate fantasies of things they could do together.

Her inclusion in them must be a very new thing but amongst the awkwardness, and the guilt, she can’t help but feel gratified at how happy Adrien seems to include her.

When he tries to suggest dates for them she has to shut it down though. Hawkmoth and Mayura might find the Eiffel Tower a suitable place for a rendezvous but Gabriel and Nathalie have no interest in such a public and cliché location.

“I think you should keep your date ideas for you and your future girlfriend.” She tells him.

“ _Very_ future girlfriend.” The sentimonster adds. “You don’t have the time to be distracted by girls at the moment.”

“I told you.” Adrien says, “The only girl I like isn’t really a possibility at the moment.”

Eventually Adrien gets bored sitting with them and heads back to the pool. Unfortunately the sentimonster doesn’t follow him.

“He’s a good boy, isn’t he?” The sentimonster says leaning forward from where he’s sat on the side of the lounger to better talk to her.

“Better than he has any right to be.” She confirms. She can’t see any a young Gabriel or Emilie accepting a parent’s new partner the way Adrien has.

“Don’t sell us short.”

She’s about to disagree about the usage of _us_ there when she’s distracted by his hand on her knee.

“What are you doing?”

“Being Gabriel.”

“Gabriel wouldn’t do that.”

He raises his eyebrows.

Admittedly he’s not wrong, Gabriel _would_ do exactly that but, “He wouldn’t do it in public.”

“If you say so,” The duplicate removes his hand while tilting his head sceptically, “I’m only trying to help. Adrien’s going to expect to see you and his father acting certain ways. You saw how excited he was. I’m sure you don’t want to disappoint him. ”

“It’s unnecessary, and what happened after lunch? That was more than unnecessary.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind. I’m identical to him, and you seemed quite enthusiastic about kissing him.”

She is never going to live down that moment on the couch. She’d been waiting for Gabriel to say something like that for so long, and in the moment of actually hearing it she’d totally forgotten about the sentimonster sitting behind her. At least Gabriel hadn’t seemed any more aware in the moment, which is a flattering takeaway at least.

“I do mind. Just.” She closes her eyes and exhales, suddenly glad there are other people around which should limit what he might do. “Stop, it’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to him.”

“I live to please.” The sentimonster says.

* * *

Being in Paris while the sentimonster, apparently under Nathalie’s control, took his place with his son, and his Nathalie had been bad.

Being in the same resort, the same _building,_ even as them while it parades around with a mind of its own doing goodness knows what around them is far worse.

He looks at his phone hoping for another text.

Nathalie had sent one sayings things are going ok but that was a while ago now and anything could have happened in that time.

His phone’s buzzes again but this time its Adrien. It’s a picture of the three of them all smiling, but Nathalie’s looks strained around her eyes in a way he can’t pretend doesn’t look familiar. He doesn’t think it’s an accident either that she’s got an arm around Adrien who’s sat between the two adults while the sentimonster been deputised to hold the phone for the photo.

It’s not how they would have been posed had _he_ been the one to be there with them.

He can imagine that picture but he doesn’t want to imagine it. He wants to be there.

This is all turning out to be so much more complicated than he’d expected when he’d made the decision to come.

At least he _did_ make the decision to come though. If he hadn’t then god knows what could have happened.

That provokes a multitude of horrible images in his head which he does his best to ignore.

He’s broken out of them by a notification on his mobile of a message from Nathalie.

‘I’ve told him to knock it off’

‘R u Ok?’ He sends back in immediate concern.

‘Fine’

‘Did he apologise?’

‘No, but he seemed to accept it so I’ll take it.’

He doesn’t feel reassured by that at all. _He’s_ just pretended to agree to something and done what he wanted multiple times when the argument hasn’t been worth it, and dismaying as it is the sentimonster _is_ based on him.

What exactly it’s up to he can’t understand. It’s easy to see that it must be jealous but it had seemed almost helpful earlier with Nathalie so he can’t understand what’s provoked this turnaround.

All they can hope is that earlier was just an opportunistic whim he gave into and that it won’t be repeated.

* * *

“I’ll see you soon.” The sentimonster says, and kisses her cheek as if she hadn’t explicitly asked him not to do that earlier, before he shuts the door of his room behind him.

At least he’s Gabriel’s problem now and she’s fairly certain he’s not going to go around trying to kiss _him_. Though she also hopes Gabriel didn’t see that last interaction through the open door and decide to come over all chivalrous.

There’s no immediate reason for concern but she still finds herself checking the Peacock Miraculous is in place pinned to her swimsuit under her cover-up before she leaves even though she knows it must be since she’s fairly sure the anger she’s feeling at the moment isn’t _all_ her own. Still she can’t help the paranoia. The bracelet’s loss is all on her but she doesn’t trust the senitmonster not to try to take the Peacock Miraculous now. Not now he’s suddenly shown a willingness to push boundaries like this.

She doesn’t get to the door out of the suite before she hears raised voices from Gabriel’s room. Thankfully the exact content is hard to make out but she winces when she hears her own name.

Adrien pokes his head out of his room.

“Is everything ok?”

“Your father’s on a call.” She tries to reassure him hoping he won’t notice that both sides of the argument sound like Gabriel. She distinctly hears one of them swearing and she admits to him. “I don’t think it’s going very well.”

How both of them have managed to forget Adrien is here she has no idea. The sentimonster’s motivations might be opaque but she can’t see any way discovery would help him.

She supposes that they’re used to being in the lair or the Atelier with soundproofing and Adrien safely in another part of the house instead of being in a hotel suite with normal walls.

Then there’s a dull thud from inside the room. That didn’t sound like something being thrown. Whatever happening in there, she realises in shock, it’s at least reached the level of shoving each other against the wall.

“Er, are you sure we shouldn’t go in and check on him?”

A quieter thump, but one Nathalie’s become unfortunately well acquainted with during her time as Mayura, comes through the door, followed by a crash. She really hopes that was just the suitcase making that noise.

Her hand moves to hover over the Peacock Miraculous. She wasn’t going to destroy the copy just for its attentions to her, especially when between her and Gabriel she wasn’t so sure how much he could help them, but he must know that if presented with a choice between him and Gabriel she’d chose Gabriel every time.

“I’ll go.” She says, “You go back to your room Adrien.”

“I don’t think you should go alone.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not afraid of your father.”

“That’s not really what I’m worried about.”

“You know I’ve self-defence training.”

There’s another thud, and she gives up on trying to send Adrien back, and runs to the room ready to intervene.

Just before she gets there, a wave of purple light washes under the door.

Praying Adrien hasn’t seen it she turns round. Hawkmoth should be able to stand his own against the sentimonster. They have a few more seconds.

“Adrien. I want you to go get your bodyguard and get somewhere safe now.”

He must see the seriousness on her face because he only hesitates for a second before running to his room.

She takes a breath and opens the door ready to transform once she’s sure she’s out of Adrien’s sight.

Thankfully Hawkmoth has the errant copy caught against the wall with his cane pressed across his neck. Despite his miraculous-assisted strength it doesn’t look effortless. The sentimonster’s squirming, and has his own hands on the cane trying to push it back, and Gabriel is clearly having to exert himself to hold him back.

Gabriel doesn’t move from his position but when he hears the doors shut his eyes leave the sentimonster’s face to see who’s just entered.

“Take the amok back,” he grunts on recognising her.

She’s just about to transform when Chat Noir jumps through the open window.

“Are you kidding me?” She can’t stop herself from saying. She cannot believe that somehow Gabriel’s joke from earlier was correct and of all the places in world somehow Chat Noir had to be in the same resort as them.

Or never mind that, maybe in the same hotel even, how on earth could he have got here so fast?

Usually the heroes react to an akuma attack. They’re never shown any evidence that they can sense when Gabriel transforms. She doesn’t understand how he can be here.

Apparently this isn’t the usual response to his arrival because the hero looks at her quizzically, but comparatively to if he’d arrived in the middle of her transformation she thinks a slightly off reaction is getting off pretty safely.

His attention is quickly dragged back over to Gabriel and the sentimonster when it attempts to wheeze something out.

For a second just before a not unfamiliar expression of pure anger covers his face she thinks her enemy looks frightened. Frightened in a way he’s never been fighting _her,_ or even those times she’s seen Hawkmoth restrain him and it’s discomforting.

“Let go of him!” Chat Noir demands of Gabriel.

She looks at Gabriel. Gabriel looks at her.

Chat Noir alone he could take in a fight, but she’s not sure there would be a clear winner, and what the sentimonster would do she’s no idea. If he looked closer to fainting it’d be safer for Gabriel to let go but she doesn’t know if something made of magic will be affected by oxygen deprivation.

As for her, she’s _stuck._ She can’t transform without giving away their identities because if they know she’s Mayura they’ll never believe Gabriel didn’t know. She can’t even tell Chat Noir that that isn’t Gabriel because there’s no reason she should know.

“I said let go!” Chat Noir shouts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this fic changed genre somewhere without my permission?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately it's Adrien's turn to have a bad day

When you’re confronted by the heroes in the middle of strangling well, yourself apparently, there’s only one thing you really can do. Play the villain they expect you to be.

“Why should I?” Gabriel says trying to give it his best sneer.

It’s a desperate attempt to stall for time, while he tries to think up a better plan. Nathalie can’t transform _now._ Not while Chat Noir’s here. The only way she can transform is if either he gets Chat Noir out of here, _or,_ they somehow get _her_ out of here so they she can return as Mayura.

Hopefully Adrien’s bodyguard has had the sense to get his son somewhere out of the way of all of this, and if she gets out of the bedroom she can safely transform in the living room. This _really_ isn’t an ideal situation to have to explain their identities to Adrien.

“Because if you don’t I’ll make you.” Chat Noir replies from his position by the window, apparently too concerned for Gabriel Agreste’s safety (oh the irony) to risk stepping closer.

“Seems to me you’ll fight me regardless. I’m not seeing much incentive to release him a moment before I’m forced to.”

He only has a second to realise he’s forgotten about his enemy’s staff’s length changing abilities before it hits him in the side.

The awkwardness of the angle means it’s nothing compared to other hits he’s taken but it puts him off balance enough that the sentimonster is able to push his cane off his neck.

Nathalie’s apparent idea of his strength is flattering but she _really_ could have made the thing a little bit weaker.

In that scuffle Chat Noir’s able to reach him unnoticed and he takes another hit before he’s able to block the hero’s staff with his cane.

Blessedly Nathalie grabs the sentimonster and pulls it towards her in a way that could be mistaken for concern. Much as accidentally stabbing it in his back and forth with Chat Noir _would_ be satisfying he does feel better with it unable to intervene.

Besides punching it earlier had been satisfying too, and look where that’s led them. Acting on what he’d like to do to the sentimonster isn’t exactly proving to have a good results. 

He can’t stop himself from checking in on Nathalie and the sentimonster out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t _think_ the sentimonster will hurt her. Not in this situation when it’s still pretending to be Gabriel Agreste in front of Chat Noir anyway, but then they hadn’t expected that it’d force it’s attentions on her earlier either.

Once they get Chat Noir out of the way that thing is being destroyed for good.

“Why are you attacking my-“the Chat Noir cuts himself off then tries to continue “ster Agreste _anyway_?” He says between attempted jabs. “Isn’t hands-on murder a little pedestrian for you? I thought your style was more attempted world domination?”

“Maybe I just enjoy seeing you purrplexed.” He says, before Chat Noir’s little slip up registers for him, “Why do you care? Who’s _he_ to you?”

He honestly has no idea who could be behind that mask. His son is the only teenage boy he knows and he’s already discounted him. Perhaps one of Adrien’s so-called friends or an intern or something.

“No one.” The hero says just a little bit too frantically to be believed, “I’m a hero remember? It’s not like I’m going to let you kill _anybody._ ”

The boy makes a familiar move and not for the first time Gabriel thinks that he must fence in his civilian life.

“And by the way?” Chat Noir says, “The puns? Only pawsome when I do it.”

Oops. There goes bedside table. This stay is going to end up costing a bit more than originally planned. Still, hopefully he’ll be able to blame it on Hawkmoth and avoid the rumours it could cause.

The temptation to rile up the hero is irresistible though. “Not feline confident you can do better?”

He hears Nathalie’s small huff of disbelief but it certainly succeeds at distracting Chat Noir who makes an honest-to-god almost growling sound at him and in that moment of annoyance he manages to get in under his guard and strike the hero.

That succeeds in pushing him back towards the window, where he _wants_ him to be, but his opponent manages to regain his balance at last moment and leaps at him as if he’s no fear of his swordstick at all.

“So defensive over a man no one will miss?” He pushes.

“Yes they will.” Chat Noir yells back so gratifyingly defensively it’s difficult to resist the impulse to push further.

“Oh his so-called friends in the industry will make a show of mourning, but by the day after they’ll be onto the next new thing.”

“He has a _son.”_ Chat Noir takes one hand off his staff clearly about to summon his power, “And a, um,” He takes his eyes off the fight for second looking towards Nathalie and the Sentimonster,” girlfriend.”

“ _A”_ , he starts without thinking, Nathalie’s _his,_ but maybe because it’s barely been a day or maybe because it just sounds so juvenile he’d not thought of her as his _girlfriend,_ and he’s suddenly very aware that she’s right there and can hear this conversation and it doesn’t feel right to deny it, “yes, I suppose he does.”

Once this is over they can discuss what they’re going to call their relationship but right now if he wants to have that conversation then he’s going to have to get his opponent out of the way first.

“Not that he deserves either of them.” He adds hoping to get a further rise out of the hero, “I barely believe he’d be brave enough to leave his house to save either of them.”

“You shut up.” Chat Noir snaps and swings with enough force he’d be concerned for his bones if is connected. Fortunately he’s too irate to be accurately in his swings, “You don’t know _anything_ about him.”

“Don’t I?” he scoffs, “How would you know that? Maybe I know him, and how little he deserves them, much better than you do.”

For a moment he thinks he might succeed in provoking the boy to say something that might reveal his identity but instead of saying anything Chat Noir leaps at him.

He barely manages to dodge but he _does_ and it’s the wall his antagonist hits rather than him.

The impact dislodges the mirror from its hangings, and he almost ignores it until he realises it’s trajectory towards Nathalie and the sentimonster.

* * *

She raises her arm to protect her face and shuts her eyes a second before impact.

There’s no impact.

She opens to them to find Gabriel protectively in front of her with the mirror thrown to the side, and beyond that Chat Noir standing staring at them with his mouth gaping open in shock.

“ _Hawkmoth’s_ the ex-boyfriend? _Hawkmoth?_ Seriously Nathalie?”

“What?” She doesn’t need to fake her confusion. “What are you talking about? Hawkmoth’s not my ex-boyfriend.”

They couldn’t be lucky enough to him not to find something odd in Hawkmoth protecting her. It’s not like they’d built up a reputation for saving civilians, but that doesn’t explain why out of _all_ the possible options Chat Noir could pick he’d somehow choose to go for her being _Hawkmoth’s ex-girlfriend._

Apart from anything else why his _ex_ -girlfriend?

Except. Wait. He had somehow known _Gabriel_ was involved with someone, and if he knew that much, inexplicable though that is, then it’s not ridiculous that he’d know that someone was her. So perhaps she should be glad he doesn’t think she’s two-timing the pair of them.

“I thought you were looking at each other weirdly earlier,” He says, “and _that’s_ why you didn’t try to fight him to save Mr Agreste, you thought you could appeal to him.”

That’s not why at all.

He’s got completely the wrong end of the stick, but the question is whether or not it’s a wrong conception she should run with.

She doesn’t know Chat Noir. It shouldn’t matter what he thinks of her for dating a supervillain. He could tell the police and they might question her, but he could do that even if she denied it because he’s never going to believe there’s _no_ connection between them now.

In the end though she doesn’t have a choice, “He won’t let her go.” The sentimonster rasps. “He never treated her right. Half the time he hurt her and the rest of the time he barely gave her a thought, but now suddenly now there’s a chance she might have another option he can’t bear the idea of anyone else having her.”

That’s not fair. She’d hurt herself. He’d never asked her to fall for him. He’d never asked her to put on the Peacock Miraculous. He’s _hated_ her using it. She might have used Gabriel to do it but she’d always been the one hurting herself.

She’d made choices of her own damn it. _Bad_ choices but she wasn’t this passive object she’s being painted as waiting for Gabriel to rescue her from Hawkmoth.

Gabriel’s head whips round and she wants to yell at him to keep his eyes on the person he’s actually fighting right now. Her hands are on the sentimonster’s shoulder and chest ostensibly checking for injuries so if the sentimonster lunges she can stop him. She can’t do anything about Chat Noir.

“She said _no_ to you.” Gabriel says. “You’re not wrong in what you said, I _don’t_ deserve her, but regardless of that the point is that she didn’t chose _you._ ”

“Yes, she did.” Chat Noir breaks in, _finally_ making Gabriel look back at him. “She chose him, and _they_ decided to make a go of it even if they’re afraid of you.”

That’s the opposite of the truth, but he can’t know that. Then again he _shouldn’t_ know about her and Gabriel either.

“That’s what you think.” Gabriel says, leaving them, and engaging with the hero once more.

“It’s the truth.” Chat Noir says. “You’re a piece of work you know? I should have cataclysmed you earlier like he wanted.”

 _Adrien._ Adrien must have been speaking to the hero. He must have seen the purple light of Gabriel’s transformation and called Chat Noir thinking he was saving his father. How he did it and how he knows the hero is something she doesn’t really want to know but it’s the only explanation that makes sense.

“Isn’t that a bit below your moral code? Weren’t you just saying you were anti-murder?”

“That seems more like Ladybug’s area.” Chat Noir says. “Personally I think I could make an exception this time.”

“Because I won’t give up Nathalie?” Gabriel puts on a performative show of thought, “Hmm, No. I think I’d rather keep fighting you than do that.”

She can’t deny the reaction hearing him saying that provokes in her, but the rational of the part of her knows that it’s _really_ not a helpful thing to be saying right now, when it’s _Gabriel_ she’s supposed to be in a relationship with, not _Hawkmoth._

“He has some sort of hold on her.” The sentimonster calls out. “I don’t understand it but it exists.”

Chat Noir startles, and Gabriel almost pins him down, only for his cat-like reflexes to save him.

“What are you two still doing here?” He says to her once he’s regained his breath, “Go!”

There’s not much she can do in the face of that little as she likes the idea of abandoning Gabriel alone.

She pulls the sentimonster with her into the living room only to be confronted by Adrien’s bodyguard staring at them.

“Where’s Adrien?” she says in a panic, “Tell me you got him out of here.”

She wants to berate him but at his look of pure concern she can’t. At least Adrien’s no where in the suite or he’d have him with him.

“Go find him then. Ring me when you do.”

He hesitates looking between her and the sentimonster.

“I’ll handle Mr Agreste.” She reassures him and he finally leaves in search of Adrien.

Much as she’s relieved Adrien isn’t here to see any of this she hopes he hasn’t called the police or something. That’s possibly one of the only ways today could get even worse.

He’s barely out the door when a crash from a slightly different direction indicates that Gabriel’s managed to move the fight outdoors at least.

She takes her chance, and pushes the sentimonster behind the sofa out of sight of window where Gabriel and Chat Noir have just come into view still fighting.

“You’re cross at me aren’t you?” He says.

“ _Cross?_ I’m furious, what on earth was all of that?”

“ _I_ didn’t say anything untrue.” 

The a crash and what sounds like the window shattering and the sentimonster moves as if he’s about to about to get up.

She can’t deal with this.

Gabriel needs Mayura so they can put an end to this fight, and she needs to be able to not worry about what her rebellious creation is doing, or about explaining where Nathalie’s gone.

If both she and “Gabriel” are gone then hopefully the hero will just assume they had the sense to run out of the room without her.

And she can’t wait because Hawkmoth and Chat Noir seem evenly enough matched but she’s terrified that if Gabriel defeats the hero and gets his Miraculous then all his talk of stopping will be for nothing in the face of the triumph and temptation of having half of what they’ve been aiming for all this time.

She does the only thing that might shut him up without complaint.

And then she does what she has to do to stop him permanently.

* * *

Chat Noir leaps at him and they both tumble through the window into the sitting room, and this really is going to be fun to explain to the hotel.

That blasted copy of him pokes his head up from behind the sofa, only for a hand to pull him back down.

A _blue_ hand.

Finally. 

He might never have been happier to see Mayura.

Unfortunately Chat Noir sees it too. “Ok. Your issue I get, but what’s _her_ investment in this?”

“Mayura understands the situation.”

Chat Noir’s eyes widen, “I _really_ don’t want to know what that means.”

Gabriel thinks he might have to apologise to Nathalie for the impression that he’s just managed to give the hero.

Still, they can get away with this. Ladybug isn’t here. All he has to do is provoke Chat Noir enough to make him use his power, _not_ get hit himself, and then escape back here when the hero has to go recharge.

It’s doable.

But then he finds himself on the back foot and being pushed back into the room and somehow before he knows how he’s pushed back onto the couch.

He’s about to strike but when Chat Noir makes an inarticulate noise and trips backwards falling off the couch.

It’s enough to make him look over himself.

And. How it would look for Mayura to push him down and kiss him, isn’t a question he was aware he was interested in, except _apparently,_ he is and he can’t enjoy it because he’s watching it and it’s not him she’s kissing.

Just as he’s ready to say something he sees the tell-tale blue glimmer of the Peacock Miraculous at work, and the sentimonster starts to dissolve.

Nathalie pulls away from it, and it only has to the chance to ask, “Why?” before its face too disappears.

He might actually be capable of enjoying this scene after all, if in a less carnal way, but the wave of despair from the Chat Noir who has climbed back up next to him at some point, nearly knocks him over with its force.

“ _Nathalie?”_ Chat Noir whispers in an oddly familiar tone of horror, having somehow managed to recognise her through her transformation.

She looks up at them in panic. “I thought you’d go back outside. I thought I had time.”

“I tried.” He tells her in apology.

Char Noir bristled. “What? So you thought it was ok to kill my father, because I wouldn’t see it? I thought you were part of my family. I _trusted_ you.”

Nathalie manages to respond before he can fully process the implications of what he just heard, “ _Adrien?”_

“I don’t.” Cataclysm gathers in his hand. “I don’t understand. I thought you _loved_ him. I thought you loved _us._ I could. I could maybe understand being Mayura with whatever control father said he had over you, but I can’t understand this.”

Gabriel grabs at his arm in a last ditch attempt to stop Adrien from wielding the force of destruction on Nathalie. He can’t let that happen. Not to either of them.

“And _you.”_ Adrien’s eyes, and they _are_ somehow Adrien’s eyes even with the green sclera and slit pupils, narrow. “I should have cataclysmed you earlier like he wanted. She’d never have done it if not for you.”

Chat Noir’s been Adrien the whole time. He’s been fighting _Adrien_ the whole time. So much for only hitting unrelated teenagers.

And he _almost told him._ He’d almost told Chat Noir he was Hawkmoth. He’d almost told the wielder of the Black Cat Miraculous the one thing that might have made him give it to him.

And it _all makes so much sense._ He’d known exactly where Chat Noir was during those his absences from those recent attacks after all. He should have known that the “proof” he’d seen that Chat Noir wasn’t Adrien wasn’t actually proof at all. He was seeing what he wanted to see.

He expects Adrien to pull away further but rather than trying to release his arm from his grip Adrien forces it downwards and the shock of it means he barely halts it inches away from his face.

“Adrien don’t” Nathalie implores him.

“Why not?” Adrien says.

There’s only one real option. It’s not as if he can pretend to be dead, and leave Nathalie in with this mess, and his son mourning _both_ his parents.

“Because that wasn’t your father.” He admits.

“Like I’m going to believe that.” Chat Noir sneers, “Show me him then.”

He takes a deep breath then pulls off his Miraculous with his spare hand.

The build up to Cataclysm in Adrien’s hand disappears and his son takes a step back, and would have fallen off the sofa again if it wasn’t for him still gripping onto his arm.

“ _Father?”_

“Hello Adrien.” He manages despite the emotional turmoil and physical pain he’s in. The damage taken while fighting always hurts more detransformed, and Ladybug’s absence means there’s no magical cure to put everything right. Though he’s starting to think no magical cure could heal the mess they’re in.

“No. No. _No._ ” Adrien splutters. “This is a trick. It has to be. You can’t be. You’re not like that. _You were akumatised._ ”

“I’m sorry.” It’s all he can offer insufficient as it is. “It’s not a trick.”

“Who was _that_ then?”

“Sentimonster.” Nathalie stands up and holds up her fan in explanation. “Not a mistake I’ll be making again.”

“That’s _what_ you’re calling it. A mistake. Do you even regret it, or are you just as happy to kill off this one as the Ladybug you made? You might even be worse than him.”

“Don’t you _dare._ ” Distressed as Adrien is he can’t have him talk to her like that. “You don’t know what she’s been through with that _thing,_ and yet she kept trying to find a way to keep it in existence anyway. I’ve had her crying in my arms over that Ladybug copy so don’t tell me she doesn’t care.”

“Been through?” Adrien says with his face scrunched up in confusion. Then he pales. “Wait. Are you saying it was _a sentimonster_ I’ve been trying to set up with Nathalie all week?”

“You’ve been _what?”_ He can’t stop himself from saying. This is really _not_ the priority here but, _what._ He knew Adrien was in favour of their relationship, and his messages had been encouraging but, _what._

Nathalie looks just as lost. “ _When?_ ”

“ _That’s_ why it didn’t work when I gave you the both perfect opportunity the other night. Father didn’t screw it up at all. _You”_ He points at Nathalie, “knew it wasn’t him. That’s why you faked an argument.”

He sees Nathalie about to correct Adrien but then she clearly thinks the better of it. He can’t disagree with that. In the light of knowing they’re Hawkmoth and Mayura trying to preserve the rest of their dignity seems pointless but somehow it also seems vital.

“But you stayed over last night.” Adrien says looking faintly disgusted, “Which of them was _that_ with?”

“That _was_ me Adrien,” He’s just going to re-write that bit of history so the sentimonster wasn’t there, “and I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“Well I don’t like that you’re Hawkmoth. That you’ve been _Hawkmoth_ the whole time. For all I know, either of you are capable of _anything._ ”

“I’m not.” Nathalie says, sighing. “Fall my feathers.”

Duusu flies out and nuzzles her face. “It’ll be ok Miss Nathalie.”

“I hope so Duusu. I want you to know that I’m sorry. And that I’m going to miss you.” She reaches under her pool dress and unpins the brooch. “I renounce you.”

The hyperactive Kwami is pulled back into the brooch before anything more can be said.

“Here.” She passes it to Adrien. “I’m not going to fight you.”

Seeing her give up the Miraculous feels like letting go of a weight he didn’t know he was holding. Even apparently fixed he doesn’t trust it one bit.

“You’re _giving_ it to me?”

“Who else am I going to give it to? You can get it to the Guardian can’t you?”

“That’s not really what I meant.”

Nathalie gives Adrien a sad smile. “You won’t believe me, but, your father and I. We were meant to be stopping anyway. None of this was meant to happen. Seeing Chat Noir turn up earlier, well, my thoughts on that aren’t very shareable.”

“You’re right. I do find that hard to believe. We’re had two akumas just this week. I’ve apparently been holidaying with a sentimonster because my father cared more about his supervillainy than me.”

“That’s not true.” He can’t let that stand. “I was doing all of this for you, and I was stopping for you too. Well. For you and Nathalie.”

“ _How were you doing this for me?_ I’d thought all this time that how I never saw you anymore and how the only time you seemed to remember me was when you were stopping me from doing something was because you were mourning my mother. I felt sorry for you. I _defended_ you to my friends. But it has nothing to do with that at all did it? What did you even want?”

“Your mother. I wanted to bring your mother back. She had me promise to bring her back. That’s why I wanted your Miraculous and Ladybug’s.”

“So she _is_ dead?”

“I think so.”

Nathalie’s eyes widen at this confession of what he’s been refusing to admit.

“How? Where is she?”

For a moment looking at the anguish on Adrien’s face he wonders if maybe he could convince his son to let him have the ring. That maybe it’s not so impossible to bring Emilie back to life after all.

Then Nathalie’s agonised face catches his eye. No. He can’t chance the cost of using a combined Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous. He can’t risk swapping her for Emilie. The wish will claim an equal cost, and he’s starting to realise that that means Nathalie wasn’t wrong, even if her reasoning was, mostly likely the wish would take her.

He can’t do it.

“She’s under the house.” He admits to Adrien instead.

“Buried?”

“No. Um. We have a basement. She’s kept in stasis there.”

“We have a secret basement.” Adrien shakes his head in disbelief, “I can’t even be surprised by that right now. Why aren’t you telling me how it happened? Was it your fault?”

Was it?

Owning a Miraculous had been Emilie’s dream not his. It was _her_ family which had all these tales of magic. She’d been the one to put the Peacock on. She’d been the one who refused to stop.

He hadn’t stopped her though. He’d funded the trip to Tibet. He’d had Nathalie research it for them. Without him Emilie’s dreams might just have stayed dreams.

“It wasn’t” Nathalie says.

“I don’t know,” He says, “Without me she couldn’t have done it.”

“It _wasn’t._ ” Nathalie stresses, “You’re underestimating her. Emilie would have found a way, you know that. We helped but what happened was her decision.”

“What happened?” Adrien asks looking between them.

“That Miraculous happened.” He tells him. “It was broken when we found it, and we didn’t know. Your mother used it, and she _kept_ using it, even once we realised it was killing her.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“ _You don’t know?_ How can you not know? _”_

“She wanted to prove Magic existed. She wanted to find the other Miraculouses. If she had any aim beyond that I never knew it.”

He’d never really believed in them until that first time he saw Emilie transform. He’d thought of Tibet as a way to indulge her. They’d been arguing and he’d thought pretending to believe in her theories would be a good apology to her.

Instead it had killed her.

Once she’d started using the Peacock she’d become increasingly irrational and secretive about everything, convinced he’d take the Miraculous from her if she let him in on what was happening.

“And she killed herself for _that?_ What is wrong with this family? Why can’t I have _normal_ parents?”

There’s no response he can make to that. None when he doesn’t have any defence to offer.

“It was hurting Nathalie too, wasn’t it?” Adrien realises, “That’s why you’re been so tired, _that’s_ why the two of you were so desperate to get the translations of the Grimoire.”

“It’s fixed now.” Nathalie reassures him. “It won’t hurt the next person you give it to.”

“I can’t believe you.” Adrien spits at him. “You really don’t care about anyone but yourself do you? What would it have taken to make you stop? Nathalie’s death? Mine?”

“I _was_ stopping.” He tries to defend himself. 

“I’m not seeing you giving up _your_ Miraculous.”

That’s an easy way to do fix that. He tears it off. “Here. Take it. I don’t want it.”

Adrien stares at it then slowly reaches out to take it.

“Were you stopping?” His son asks him. His voice wavers as it he’s about to cry.

“I wanted to. That’s part of why we wanted to stay here longer.”

“ _Hawkmoth_ was the addiction.” Adrien realises. “Everything’s suddenly starting to make so much more sense.” He chokes. “It wasn’t about me at all was it? You wanted Mom back for you, and then once you decided you could do with Nathalie instead you decided not to.”

“Gabriel.” Nathalie interrupts. “Tell him what you told me. Well. Not all of that.”

“You’re not exactly wrong Adrien.” He starts. “Nathalie _was_ a large part of how I came to my decision, but she wasn’t the only part. I loved your mother. I _still_ love your mother, and I was willing to do everything she wanted me to get her back. And I neglected you to do that. I know that now, but I justified it because I thought a little bit of distance was nothing to getting her back. But. I _haven’t_ got her back. It’s been over a year and all I’ve managed to do is to drive you away, and almost lose Nathalie too. And that was driven home to me this week. Seeing my family here living out their life the way we should be, while I was in Paris made me realise what I was missing. What your mother asked of me wasn’t reasonable. I can’t keep being Hawkmoth, and I don’t _want_ to. I want to be your father. I want the three of us to be a family. _That’s_ why I came down here.”

“Do you” Adrien swallows, “Do you even know how to do that?”

“I don’t know, but I’m asking you to let me try.” He tries to put all his sincerity into his words but he thinks he falls short.

He reaches out to Adrien but his son flinches away from him. He probably deserved that.

“I.” Adrien swallows, “I need some time to think.”

He stands up and heads to the window.

“No!” Nathalie bursts out, “You can’t.”

“I can’t?” Adrien says, the disgust in his voice clear even with the empathy the Miraculous had given him.

“Your Miraculous. It’s going to need to recharge. And Ladybug isn’t here to heal the two of you. When you transform you’re going to need patching up.”

His eyes catch on a cut in Chat Noir’s leather suit. It doesn’t _look_ like the skin underneath has been harmed, but the knowledge of how close he’d come to stabbing Adrien, and how permanent the results could have been without Ladybug to make it all like it never happened makes him feel sick.

Adrien slumps down on the floor against the side of the chair in defeat, and detransforms.

A bruise is already forming on his collarbone, and Gabriel _had_ known Chat Noir was Adrien but it’s not the same as seeing what he’d done to his son as himself.

His kwami floats above Adrien’s head and glares at Gabriel before flying over the fridge, clearly in search of whatever he eats.

Nathalie hesitantly walks over and sits next to Adrien. When he doesn’t make a move to pull away She puts one arm around him. In response Adrien collapses into her and begins to cry.

He watches feeling like he’s seeing something he doesn’t actually have any right to witness.

Nathalie glares at him over Adrien’s head, and despite his own instincts he takes Adrien’s other side and joins her in hugging his son.

This time Adrien doesn’t pull away.

* * *

Adrien’s stopped crying when her phone beeps.

“Oh no.” She realises. “I never told your bodyguard you were ok.”

She realises as she said it that OK might be overstating it, but he's _here,_ and _alive,_ and _conscious._

“Where _is_ Gorilla?” Adrien asks.

“I sent him looking for you. I thought you’d ran out of the suite, which would have been sensible but you should have taken him with you.”

“I do feel bad about having to disappear on him to be Chat Noir.” Adrien admits.

Gabriel looks up. “You’ve been running away to be Chat Noir?” Then he leans back and winces in what looks like pain rather than realisation, “Of course you have. How did I never see that before?”

She texts him that they’ve found Adrien, and could he please bring a first aid kit and ice.

“Well I missed that you were Hawkmoth so I guess we’re pretty even on that count.” Adrien says. “What were the chances of _that_? Hawkmoth and Mayura and Chat Noir _all_ under the same roof. I’m not sure I want to discover who Ladybug is.”

“At least you don’t have a sister?”

“Ew. Father. Why would you say that? _Ew._ ”

“This does put your crush on Ladybug in a somewhat different light.” Gabriel says.

“Still think she secretly likes me?” Adrien says.

“I don’t think she’s as uninterested as she claims.” Gabriel says.

“Yeah, well, some of us don’t get to have our Miraculous partners fall for us. Which, by the way, I don’t know why I care given the mountain of other lies you’ve told me but I can’t believe you lied to me about when you got together.”

Nathalie can’t stop herself from frowning, totally lost as to what Adrien’s talking about. “No we didn’t.”

“Um, I’ve fought you remember. You can stop pretending.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Gabriel points out, clearly as confused as she is to what Adrien’s talking about.

“You might have been pretty good at hiding it as your civilian selves, honestly _you_ had me convinced that you were in denial Father, but literally all of Paris could tell Hawkmoth and Mayura were a thing.”

“That’s news to Mayura.” She says. She’d known some media outlets had speculated about the idea, which made sense as you have to be pretty committed to someone to engage in supervillainy together but she didn’t think it was an accepted belief like Adrien’s saying. Not least because it wasn’t true.

“Seriously?” Adrien pushed upright to look at them and then grimaced and let himself collapse back down, “I can’t tell if you’re joking. Are you seriously saying the two of you weren’t you know,” he makes a gesture with his hands that she really doesn’t wanted to think about the meaning of, “for all of that?”

“Don’t be obscene.” Gabriel says. “I wasn’t carrying on with Nathalie while I was still trying to get your mother back.”

A spectrum of emotions pass over Adrien’s face before he finally says. “But, all the touching, and the carrying, and all of it. What was _that_ then?”

“Touching?” Nathalie says. Hawkmoth _had_ been kind of handsy, but she didn’t think they’d ever done anything exclusively reserved to couples.

“Oh” Adrien poses with his shoulders and his head, “I’m going to stand on this parapet making my evil speech about my evil plans, and obviously only way to do that is with Mayura in front of me, clutched to my chest.”

 _That_ is a bit of an exaggeration.

She’s about to say so when Gabriel speaks first.

“I _was_ in denial.” He says. “You weren’t wrong about that.”

“Really?” She can’t stop herself from asking, “I thought it was just part of how you were as Hawkmoth. Like the theatricality, or those pun put downs.” Actually now that she thinks about it the resemblance between Hawkmoth and Chat Noir is striking to someone who knows their other identities. “What is it with the two of you anyway? You _both_ put on a magical mask and go from reserved to performative. Are the puns genetic somehow?”

“You love the puns.” Gabriel says.

“I do not love the puns.” She disagrees, “Adrien, I strongly recommend you keep the puns to a minimum next time you ask Ladybug out.”

“I don’t think the puns are the problem.” Adrien says.

“They certainly weren’t for me.” Gabriel adds smugly.

Sometimes she really does wish she loved someone else.

“Anyway,” He says to son, “I did _not_ look like that.”

“You kind of did.” Nathalie said. Honestly there had been a very thin line between attractiveness and ridiculousness in Hawkmoth’s persona and she is _not_ telling him that.

Gabriel leans over to do or say something, but then he stops and puts a hand to his ribs.

She hopes the ice turns up soon. She doesn’t like the look of either of their reactions to movement.

“Have you broken anything? Either of you?” She asks, concerned that they’re going to need to go to hospital.

“I don’t _think_ so.” Adrien says poking at his chest. “I think it’s just bruising.”

She looks over at Gabriel who has yet to respond.

“The same I think.”

As the only uninjured person she forces herself up. “I’m going to go get the something to wrap the ice in when it arrives. And then I guess ring reception and tell them the room is ruined.”

“I honestly assumed Adrien would be older when I had to pay for his first trashed hotel room.” Gabriel says.

“ _First?_ ” Adrien shrieks, “You barely let me leave the house, and you somehow thought I was going to trash multiple hotel rooms?”

Gabriel shrugged. “I generally assumed it would be the fault of some degenerate friend of yours, but if you stayed in the industry or went fully into acting, well, there’s a lot that goes on that we’ve kept you shielded from.”

That’s an understatement.

Adrien blinks. “I need to warn Marinette.”

“At least he didn’t use Cataclysm.” She pointed out.

“Oh my god.” Adrien says almost hyperventilating. “I almost catacylysmed both of you. That would have killed you without the Ladybug cure. “

“You didn’t.” Gabriel says, dredging up a hitherto unseen emotional awareness and putting a reassuring hand on his son’s shoulder, “You were very restrained. Much more than I would have been in that situation.”

“That’s not as reassuring as I think you think it is.” Adrien says.

Reaching the minifridge she finds his Kwami inside eating a round of camembert cheese. On seeing her he pauses for long enough to make it clear his teeth would be just as happy to bite through her.

“I’m not going to take it.” She says and reaching for an Orangina which she brings back over to Adrien. “Here, you need the sugar.”

“What about me?” Gabriel asks.

“I think Adrien’s in more shock than us.”

Discovering Adrien was Chat Noir hadn’t been fun but in some ways she’s not that surprised. They’d considered the possibility before and the way things are going this week it almost would have been more surprising if it was someone else.

“What am I telling the hotel anyway?” She asks. “It’s a weird time to have had a party.”

“Don’t explain it. Stonewall them if they ask, you’re good at that.” The gleam in his eye makes it more of compliment than it should be. “They don’t need to know the _how_ so long as we pay for it.”

“They’ll assume you’re on drugs or something.” She feels like she has to point out.

“We’ll pay them off to shut down rumours.”

She’s sure they’ve seen worse. Well maybe not than what’s actually happened, but worse aftermaths, but “I’m not sure that’ll work.”

“Probably not normally, but we’ve a different story to distract the press with haven’t we?”

That’s news to her. Except of course there is a very big news story in this room. “I don’t think Chat Noir’s defeat of Hawkmoth and Mayura is going to be in the gossip columns.”

“That wasn’t the story I was talking about.”

“What _are_ you talking about then?”

He looks oddly amused “Us.”

Oh. _Oh._ Well. Yes. That is certainly a story, but she’d never have thought “You want to publicise this? _Already?_ ”

“I’m in this for the long-term. Aren’t you?”

“I am,” She admits, “but this seems very unlike you.”

“There’s rumours already. I don’t see the point in denying them if they’re true.”

“God. I hope they don’t think this was a sex thing. A drug-sex thing.”

Adrien chokes reminding her of his presence.

“Please remember Adrien’s innocent ears.” Gabriel says even though she can tell he’s trying not to laugh.

Thankfully at that point the doorbell goes, and it’s Adrien’s bodyguard _finally_ with the ice and the first aid kit.

Wordlessly he takes charge of Adrien and she takes Gabriel.

“I’d better get you two another suite for tonight at least.” She says as she holds the ice patch to his chest. “Or two rooms? Adrien did want space.”

“Yes, get a room for Adrien.”

“And you sir?”

“You probably should stop calling me that you know.”

“Force of habit.” She apologises. “But I do need to know what sort of room you want?”

“I don’t need one do I?”

She frowns, trying to work out what exactly he’s saying.

“We didn’t wreck _your_ room did we?”

“Oh.” She blushes and really really hopes that Adrien can’t hear them right now. “No, I suppose you didn’t. Should I get organise for your clothes to be brought down?”

* * *

Nathalie's lips purse as she looks in the mirror. He doubts it’s at her appearance. She’s never been one to fret about that, and he knows she’ll trust in taste in the dress he'd chosen for her.

Besides she looks stunning, the only thing ruining the effect are the lines of stress on her face.

He stands up once he gets the cufflink through the buttonhole and stands behind her slipping an arm around her waist. Adrien had had a point. It _is_ reminiscent of conspiring with Mayura.

Nathalie leans back into him and he remembers that he can do so much more than he could then, and he presses a kiss to the side of her neck, where it’s unlikely to ruin her make-up. He isn’t trying to stress her out more.

“Are you alright? He murmurs.

He barely is himself. The only thing holding him steady is that he has Nathalie to cling to, and he knows today must have been worse for her.

He doesn’t _understand_ her attachment to the Sentimonster but he knows it existed, and he knows she hadn’t wanted to destroy it. That she had for him fills him with a satisfied warmth he knows he can never confide to her.

“Do you think he'll forgive us? Adrien?” She says.

“I don’t know.” Adrien had softened by the end but he thinks that was as much exhaustion as anything, and that would explain how his son had robotically obeyed the moving of their luggage elsewhere. Now that Adrien's had time to think on it he has no idea what he might do, “I don’t think he’d turn us in without warning us. He does care too much for that.”

“I think you’re right but,” she sighs, “There’s a lot of room between that and forgiveness isn’t there?”

“Let’s just get through dinner.” He reassures her, “One step at a time.”

“One step at a time.” She echoes. “You sound like me.”

That’s unsurprising. She’s been someone for him to lean on for much longer than he's been for her.

“They do say close proximity makes you rub off on each other.”

She hums and twists round so they're standing face to face. He’s momentarily distracted from their situation by the sensation of it, and the novelty of having Nathalie so close at this angle. One of her hands comes up to cradle the side of his face. “If he doesn’t want to live with us when we go home, are you going to be able to cope with that?”

The idea feels _wrong_ to him in a way he can’t quite articulate. Adrien’s his son. He's supposed to live in his house. The whole reason he’d wanted to stop was to rebuild his family.

And Emilie. He’s broken his promise to her, because it was an unfair expectation and he couldn’t fulfil it, and he’d rather not complete it by choosing to life his life instead, rather than continually failing at it. His obligation to her to raise their son though, that’s a reasonable thing for any mother to expect of her child’s father. He can’t pretend he's free from that. He still owes her that.

“Do you think he will?” He asks Nathalie.

“I don’t know. He might.”

“Thank you for warning me then.” It's another thing to deal with once they get to it, he supposes. Thinking on it further isn’t going to make him like the idea anymore. “We should get back to getting ready. Do you need help with your hair?”

It’s not a disinterested offer. He’s barely ever seen it down, and now he has it seems such a tragedy to put it up.

“Huh.” Nathalie says, a small smirk on her face.

“”What?”

“Nothing. Something just made a bit more sense to me.”

* * *

Dinner's awkward. Not that she hadn’t expected it to be. Not least because she can’t help but wonder if their waiter knows about the room. But she hadn’t anticipated the fact that there’s too many other people around for any of them to be comfortable doing anything other than talking around the situation.

Adrien oddly is the only one of them who seems to have any appetite at all but she supposes maybe the nutritional demands of a growing teenage boy outweigh the appetite sapping discovery that the enemy you’ve been fighting has been your own father all along.

“I think maybe we should stay a few days.” He says eventually breaking the awkward silence that’s fallen again. “I need to speak to....my friends but I need time to know what I want to tell them.”

“Anything you want.” Gabriel rushes to agree, and beneath the table he squeezes her thigh.

It doesn’t escape her what Adrien’s offering. He’s given them a chance. A chance to show him that they can still fix things, and that they can be people he wants in his life. People that he’d want to protect from the retribution the rest of Paris, and Ladybug will want to unleash on him.


	9. Chapter 9

“Here,” Nathalie says, “Can you undo my necklace?”

As he does he’s strongly reminded of the picture the Sentimonster had painted for him of a very similar situation.

It certainly hadn’t been wrong to describe it as a temptation.

Eager to overwrite that bit of history he gives in and kisses the back of her neck, and then presses another one just below, with the intention to follow her spine down to the relatively low back of the tonight’s dress.

Instead of the reaction he'd hoped for Nathalie tenses, and he stops not wanting to cause her more distress after today.

“I’m sorry.” She says. “It’s too alike, too soon.”

“No, _I'm_ sorry,” he says mentally cursing himself, “I hadn't thought about memories this room would have for you.”

She heads to the mirror covering one wall above the desk to take her earrings off, and to take the pins out of her hair where he'd pinned it out of her face, before tying it back in a simple ponytail.

His arms feel empty without her, and it feels like he’s incapable of not messing things up.

Apparently unware of his mood, she makes a noise of satisfaction then sits on the bed still dressed.

“You know.” She says. “He was in this room, but he was never in this bed with me.”

He doesn’t need inviting twice.

Yet when their lips are only millimetres away, and he can feel her breathe on his he does find himself hesitating. He doesn’t want to remind her of the sentimonster _this_ time but he’s not sure if it’s possible for him not to when it had had his face.

The impatience in Nathalie’s eyes is clear but unlike their previous encounters this time she doesn’t move, waiting for him to initiate.

“Tell me if you want to stop.”

One side of her mouth quirks up, “I don’t think that’s very likely.”

He starts by closing the distance on that little corner, and he can feel her more fully smile, giving him an easy gap between her lips to take advantage of.

She doesn’t stay a passive participant in their kiss for long after that.

As they get to know each other in this new way he can’t help but be thankful that they’d started this in these clothes. He wants to learn every inch of her body but there’s something captivating in having her in his arms in a dress of his design that he’d chosen for her. It makes him want to make something only for her that only they’ll see.

She shifts to draw them closer together, and ouch, he can’t stop the noise of discomfort he makes as the movement pulls on something he’d injured in his fight with Chat Noir earlier.

Nathalie releases him immediately. “I’d forgotten.”

“So had I.” He admits. Frankly it had been the last thing on his mind.

She reaches out to the buttons on his shirt. “May I?”

“Go ahead.”

He has to concentrate on keeping his breathing even as he watches her unbutton him. He’s been _married_ for goodness sake. He shouldn’t be so effected by this.

Nathalie hisses. “You’re developing quite a bruise.”

“If that’s all then I'm getting off easy.” He points out.

“Should I get us more ice?”

“That really _will_ make them think something’s up.”

She rolls her eyes, “So I'll order an ice bucket and wrap some in a towel. I _do_ still have a minibar even if it’s rather smaller than yours. They’ll just think it’s for a bottle of something.”

Her practicality is charming, balanced as it is with the knowledge that she can be convinced to go along with his own flights of fancy, but, “You holding an ice pack up to me wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for from tonight.”

She raises her eyebrows, “I’d have thought your hopes for tonight would be about Adrien forgiving us.”

It's not as if they hadn’t been but he’d just wanted to forget what was happening for a bit. To lose himself in the one good part of his life at the moment.

Then her mock sternness breaks, “It’s not what I was hoping for either.”

“I’ll survive without the ice.” He points out.

She understands what he's saying but replies, “You’re _injured._ I'm not risking making something worse. I'm still not convinced you haven’t cracked a rib.”

“I can think of things we can do without endangering that.”

“You're terrible.”

“You love me though.”

He realises his mistake the moment he says it. It had just slipped out. It had felt natural, but it's an unfair burden to put on her when all of this is so new. When he's not sure if he could say it himself.

“You don’t have to reply to that.” He offers, “I shouldn't have said that.”

“We both know how I feel anyway,” She says, “What difference does it make if I actually say it out loud.”

He wants to protest that. He'd known she'd cared for him, and it's been made very clear that the attraction between them is mutual but she’d only admitted to unspecified feelings.

But when he tries to say that he realises that he’s been blind. She’d been willing to sacrifice herself for his happiness, which has to pretty much say it all. Pretending it doesn’t now would take a wilful disregard of her feelings that he hasn’t in him.

And it would mean denying his feelings too, and with each fresh realisation of what he’s willing to do for her and what he wants for her and with her that starts to look like something stupid.

“Because I want to say it back to when you do.” He tells her instead.

“And you don’t feel the same yet.” She says flatly. “It’s fine. I _know_ that. How could you, when the idea never even occurred to you until this week?”

That not fair to her at all, and once again he can’t help but wonder why on earth she’s still here. This image she paints of them, of her devoted and him just willing to take advantage, is one he doesn’t like at all.

He wants to change it.

And he _has_ hasn’t he, when it came to it he'd chosen her, and it had been so much easier than he’d expected.

But she doesn’t seem to know that.

And he wants to change that despite the fact that the words he should say sound heavy and ungainly on his tongue.

“No, that's not true.” He says, and Nathalie frowns at him, “I think, no, I know I _do_ feel the same. I just hadn’t realised before.”

“Gabriel.” His name sounds like a benediction from her lips.

“I” he tries to start.

“It’s ok. We can wait a little until we’re both ready to say it. We're had enough upheaval today, haven’t we?”

“We have.” He agrees. He wants to hold her close, physical discomfort be damned but despite his earlier joking he can acknowledge that’s she not wrong about needing not to aggravate his injuries.

* * *

Honestly if she'd been told at the start of this week that it was going to end with Gabriel shirtless in her bed, and the two of them in a relationship then she wouldn’t have believed it. If she had though the current situation really isn't what she would have envisaged.

It does feel like a more natural progression of their relationship than the rest of it when part of her is still reeling at the idea that he wants _her._

She doesn't mind having him lying on his side with her behind him, but she'd like to be able to lie snuggled up to him. Especially after today when she just wants the solid confirmation that're both alright.

Instead she's sat up behind him holding a bunch of ice wrapped in a towel to his side.

He groans slightly as she repositions it, and she's tempted to kiss just below it in reassurance. Then she remembers she _can_ do that now so she leans over and does.

He'd looks back over his shoulder at her, and it tilts the whole side of his body so she has to move to hold the makeshift ice pack in place.

“ _Gabriel.”_ She tries to tell him off.

He smiles, she assumes at her reprimand until he says, “I do like it when you say my name you know.”

She can’t help blushing at his words and the tone he says them in. When she’d changed out of her dress she’d wished she packed nightwear with more of a view to being _seen_ in it, but from the heat in his gaze Gabriel doesn’t seem to share her issues with her pyjamas.

Once her brain is back online she points out, “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay still for me.”

“Maybe I need a distraction.”

She shouldn’t find such silliness cute but she does and leans over again, this time to kiss his lips.

When she pulls away he says, “Well, I certainly can’t complain about the quality of the nursing.”

She rolls her eyes, but he speaks again more seriously this time, “I _am_ glad I have you with me.”

“Me too.” She says, and it's true on two levels. She's glad she has him, but she's also glad he has her to help him get through it. She _wants_ to get him through this and making things up to Adrien just as fervently as she’d wanted to help him before but this time there’s the advantage that she doesn’t have any regrets about it.

From the matching tired smiles on their faces they understand each other.

It isn’t quite enough to chase away the melancholy that lurks outside the bedroom door and the cocoon they’ve made of each other.

“It’s a pity Adrien doesn’t have anyone.” She says. She cared for Adrien, and though the fact that she’s suddenly whatever she is to his father doesn’t make her his parent it does feel that after today she can be, _has_ to be something for him than she was before.

“I don’t think I’d approve of him having his own pretty dark-haired blue-eyed nurse in his room,” Gabriel says, “but you’re right, this can’t be easy for him either.”

“That’s a very specific description.”

“You have seen Ladybug haven’t you?”

“I suppose she _would_ be who he’d want. It must be hard for him not telling her everything immediately-she’s the leader of the two of them, not him.”

“It’s fortunate for us she’s not here. _She’s_ no reason to be magnanimous towards us.”

“Except for Adrien’s sake.” She points out, but in truth if their places reversed and Gabriel was in Adrien’s position and she in Ladybug’s she thinks she’d want to get him as far away from the family that hurt him as possible.

She hasn’t it in her to tell Gabriel that though. She wants to protect him, not hurt him further.

“This isn’t how I wanted him to find out.”

“It could have been worse.” She can’t help but point out. It could have been in public. One of them could have permanently injured the other. They might have had no chance to explain.

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Hey, at least you’re not the one he thought needed rescuing from a relationship with Hawkmoth.”

“No, he just thought he’d failed to rescue me from a relationship with Mayura.”

He means it as a joke, and it’s only inspired by that she’d said herself but her mood drops at the reminder of what she’d done to give Adrien that impression.

Maybe she _should_ have got herself and Gabriel a different room. Or they all should have moved to another hotel where she’d never spent time with that copy of Gabriel.

“Nathalie,” Gabriel sighs, “I just keep saying the wrong thing to you tonight don’t I?”

“I’ll get over it.” She says trying to convince herself as much as him. There’s not the time to mourn now, not when Gabriel and Adrien, and the relationship between them needs her attention.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’d find it a very good way to go.” He offers, but it doesn’t make her feel better at _all._ It just makes her imagine the man in front of her disappearing under her hands.

She tries to bury her irrational worries in a rational one. “Should we check in that Adrien’s ok?” She’s not sure if his history as Chat Noir makes him more or less likely to look after his own injuries. Hopefully she can trust his bodyguard to at least.

“He should be asleep by now.”

“Do you think he can be? This must be even harder for him than it is for us. We’ve always known what we were doing, and why, and Chat Noir and Ladybug were just an obstacle to us. But he’s been thinking of himself as the Hero of Paris, and it turns out the whole time he’s been fighting his father to stop him saving his mother.”

“He’s going to have more questions isn’t he?” He groans.

“I’d guess so.” She supposes they’d owe him answers even if it wasn’t for the fact they’re reliant in his goodwill. “We just have to hope he won’t hate the answers.”

“I almost want him to ask regardless. To have it all out in the open finally.” 

“Well,” She exhales through her nose, “I’m sure we’ll get that.”

“I don’t know. Adrien’s quite self-contained. I can see him trying to dig around the house to discover the truth rather than just asking us.”

Nathalie can’t stop herself frowning. She wouldn’t characterise Adrien like that at _all._ He’s willing to hide things from his father on occasion rather than fight with him, but while she doesn’t exactly like it she’s always written it off more practicality with a dash of normal teenagerdom than anything else, especially given the fact that stress of Hawkmoth on top of everything else has made Gabriel more prone to overreact.

Then again, _she’s_ the one Adrien comes to with homework problems, and _he’s_ the one Adrien’s been taught from a young age not to interrupt when he’s working, so maybe it’s not surprise they’ve different impressions of the boy.

“Nathalie?” Gabriel asks, “You don’t agree?”

“Adrien hesitates to ask _you_ things because he doesn’t want to get in trouble, or be refused. I don’t think that’s going to be the case tomorrow.” She confesses to him.

Gabriel scowls, “Am I _that_ bad usually?”

“You can be a bit,” She hesitates, “unapproachable. Especially recently.”

He considers. “I suppose I do have tendency to treat him the way I treat anyone interrupting me, and I _have_ wanted him out of the Atelier as soon as possible since everything given the entrance behind me. Should I be trying to look _approachable_ tomorrow as part of fixing things with him? How do you even look approachable?”

“Don’t ask _me._ I’ve been accused of looking as outputting as _you_ before.”

At least one person has marvelled at where Gabriel found an assistant almost as superior as him, and others have definitely told her too much time with him is rubbing off. The jokes on them though because she’s thinks she's always been like that. If she looked like someone to talk to about anything other than business maybe she’d have more of a social life.

“He comes to you though.” He says.

“Sometimes. Not about anything serious.”

“I’m not completely oblivious to that game the two of you play where he asks you to ask me for permission for things.”

She blinks. She hadn’t thought he’d noticed that, though then again she didn’t think he’d noticed her in a lot of ways that this trip is steadily proving her wrong about. “You’re making it sound like we’re conspiring against you.”

“Aren’t you?”

“You literally pay me to manage his schedule.” She tells him. “That’s probably why he talks to me more too, I’m not in a position of authority over him like you are.”

Apparently unconcerned with her attempts to lessen his bruises he sits up so she’s no longer looking down at him.

“ _Gabriel.”_ She reprimands him again.

“I’m _fine_ Nathalie. Maybe not quite able to do everything I’d like to do right now, but I’m quite capable of sitting up to talk to you.”

She pouts, but it doesn’t seem to make him any more repentant.

“Even ignoring this week you know you’ve been more than just an employee to me, _and_ to Adrien for a long time now.”

She’s not yet used to this intensity in his eyes when he’s looking at her, and she looks away embarrassed unable to meet his gaze.

It’s hard to argue that they didn’t cross professional boundaries from the moment he told her about the Miraculous, and she can’t pretend that she doesn’t care for Adrien more than is completely appropriate for just his father’s assistant but the idea of them caring for her the way she does for them is still odd.

Gabriel seems quite determined to normalise the idea though because he tips her face back up, and then he kisses her pushing her down against the bed as he does so.

* * *

There are far too many people around. He wants to turn around and go back upstairs with Nathalie and go back to bed.

Even without everything they have to discuss and can’t in public he wouldn’t have liked it, but with the changes in accommodation meeting downstairs for breakfast had seemed like their best option. 

He’s starting to wonder if that was wrong. 

When _he’d_ been watching them on holiday he hadn’t really thought about the fact that everyone else around them who thought they were watching him, despite Audrey’s oh so helpful contribution.

Rationally he knows people have their own lives to live, and that especially at this sort of price point, even Adrien’s famous face, and his own celebrity doesn’t mean _everyone_ is looking at them all the time.

He’s out of practice with being out in public outside the organised events like Fashion week though, and ironically given his marriage to Emilie, and the career he’s started his son off in he’s _never_ liked people looking at him when he’s not able to control the situation, and how they look, and what’s going to happen.

At least Nathalie had given in and let him plait her hair even if it _had_ included a lot of bribing her with kisses to convince her to do so. Though he’s not really sure if it counts as a bribe when it’s something he wants to do just as much as she enjoys receiving it.

He had missed that sort of thing. The comfort of being with someone that cares about you just as much as you care about them, and the silly little disagreements you can have with them that don’t have any stakes but at the same time they don’t feel obliged to agree with you. It’s been a long time since he’s really interacted with anyone other than Adrien about anything not related to the business or Hawkmoth, and while his social circle has always been small and he’s never been an extrovert he’s starting to think that maybe that was another mistake.

Though the gratingness of the voices of other people around them suggest otherwise.

“Where’s Adrien?” He asks Nathalie. “He’s usually more punctual than this.”

It doesn’t bode well for how his son is likely to receive them.

“He’s no more punctual than you are.” She replies with an arched brow, “His driver and I make sure he gets places on time.”

“I’m not that bad.”

She tilts her head as if thinking. “When you’re not caught up in things you’re not. He’s not either in fairness. Well. He’s not when he’s not sneaking off places, and that should be stopping now shouldn’t it?”

“Yes. I suppose it will.”

It will be _odd_ going back to Paris and no longer akumatising anyone, but it’s not as if he can be tempted now without his Miraculous. The knowledge of Emilie’s presence below the house weighs heavy on him, and he almost wants to take the coward’s way out and suggest they don’t go back there and just decamp to another city completely.

Adrien wouldn’t approve of that though.

He doesn’t understand the attraction Adrien’s friends hold for him, but he knows his son cares for them; and he _does_ understand not wanting to leave someone you care for.

Adrien will probably want to see Emilie too. He deserves that. It isn’t Gabriel’s place to deprive him of that.

And, foolish though it is he feels he owes to her to explain that he’s giving up even though she can’t hear him. He’d call it an apology but that doesn’t feel like the right word when though he does regret he can’t save her, he _doesn’t_ regret giving up the Butterfly Miraculous.

That wasn’t a mistake.

Hawkmoth was the mistake.

The realisation is one he’s been edging towards over the last few days but yesterday had made that very clear.

Still he finds himself looking at Nathalie and wondering how attached she is to Paris, and if she could be convinced to leave.

She’d probably tell him work would make it inefficient to move. Even if most of his communication is electronic it isn’t quite all, and he _does_ have to send her in his place to some physical meetings.

Nathalie reaches over to take his hand and he realises Adrien’s making his way towards them. He’s glad for the reassurance because Adrien’s face gives no clue of what he’s thinking or what he’s decided.

He’s abruptly reminded that these next few days aren’t just a test of whether the three of them can put themselves together as a family, it’s also for Adrien to decide whether to expose them for punishment for their sins or not.

“Good morning.” Adrien says as he pulls out his chair, “I’m sorry I’m a little late. I didn’t really sleep last night.”

“That’s understandable.” Nathalie says. “I don’t think sleep came easy to any of us.”

It had come easier than might have been expected for him, but then he’d had Nathalie, and she’d been right last night, Adrien hadn’t had anyone.

The two of them seem to be waiting for him to say something. Unsure of what he should say he falls back on the safe option. “I hope you’re not too tired.”

“I’ll be ok. I’ve been getting used to that recently.”

That’s another thing he’d missed. Adrien had seemed to be managing school and his extra-curriculars well enough.

“Well, hopefully that won’t be a problem going forward.”

Something flickers in Adrien’s eyes and for a moment he wishes he had the Butterfly Miraculous back after all, but then it’s not as if that had been much help to him with Adrien before.

“No. It shouldn’t be such an issue should it?” Adrien says.

The conversation drops as a waiter comes around and fills their cups with tea and coffee. 

Nathalie nudges him once the waiter leaves, and he takes his chance to talk before Adrien can as they’d discussed.

“So, what did you want to do today?”

If it wasn’t for the need to convince Adrien to protect them, and to convince him he could be his father to him, then his first instinct would be to fill up Adrien’s day with organised activities so he didn’t have time to brood on the revelations of yesterday.

With their other need _he’d_ think the best solution would be to do them together little as he likes the idea of many of the activities on offer himself.

But given he had no idea that Adrien was the superhero he was fighting the whole time it’s clear his knowledge of his son and what he wants is lacking.

So he’s going to have to ask. And keep asking. 

“I’m not sure. Usually I’ve had said the beach or the pool but that doesn’t really suit us after yesterday.” Adrien says.

Gabriel hopes Adrien’s less bruised than he is and that maybe Adrien’s talking about the need for privacy rather than just the need to hide their injuries. The neckline of today’s t-shirt is higher than yesterday’s so he can’t see the bruise on his collarbone he’d noticed then to see if it had spread.

It doesn’t make him feel any less guilty.

Emilie could never have predicted it would be _Adrien_ he’d be fighting. She'd been protective of Adrien as he was. More so even.

If her spirit is out there somewhere he's sure she's furious with him for choosing Nathalie but he thinks she'd have to understand him giving up his Miraculous for Adrien.

“You were talking about us going out to the islands yesterday, what's there to do there?”

“Mostly walking trails in the woods, or making use of all the tiny little coves. They’re supposed to be great for snorkelling.” Nathalie says, “There's a museum on St. Marguerite and they do tours of the Abbey on St Honarat.”

Adrien sits there picking at his croissant in exactly the way he hadn’t seemed nervous about eating last night.

“That could work maybe.” He says.

“We could charter a boat into the bay for the day.” Nathalie offered, “I didn’t include it in our original plans but I’ve still got information about it.”

“They’re be a crew though, wouldn’t there?” Adrien says.

Adrien’s concern hopefully suggests that his choices are being made on the basis of privacy. Either that of he honestly _does_ get concerned about other people he doesn’t know.

“Yes. I’ve already been terrified by your father driving a car here. I’m not letting him illegally drive a boat.”

“Father _drove?_ ”

“I had to get down here someway.” He defends himself. “And I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that, I _can_ drive.”

His driving is _not_ that bad. Nathalie’s just oversensitive about it.

“I’m not sure I’ve even seen you drive.”

“Your mother didn’t let me drive you.” He admits. Emilie was also oversensitive about it. 

Adrien breaks eye contact with him to look, he assumes at Nathalie, but when he turns his head to look her expression is composed and neutral.

“Maybe we could go out to St. Marguerite then.” Adrien says hurriedly changing the topic.

Nathalie has her phone out immediately looking at their options. “Did you want to eat lunch at a restaurant or bring a picnic?”

“Um, I don’t really mind.” Adrien says, “Why don’t you two chose?”

There’s nothing in Adrien’s expression to suggest it but he can’t help but feel like Adrien letting _him_ make a decision means it’s some sort of test.

Nathalie had told him about how the sentimonster had claimed he was trying to become more social, and how Adrien had been approving of the idea so perhaps that meant they should book the restaurant.

A picnic would be better for their privacy though and Adrien _had_ wanted that, so maybe that would be the better choice. Or would that seem like him trying to hide things again?

Then again Adrien had been clear about wanting a normal family and wanting to do things together, and perhaps that would be the sort of idyllic family bonding experience his son would idealise.

* * *

She almost loses her hat on the boat ride over to the island but Gabriel manages to catch it just in time. She holds it for the rest of the journey. It makes it easier to watch Adrien without the brim cutting off the top of her vision anyway.

“It’s supposed to be cooler on the islands.” Gabriel says.

“I know. I read the guidebook.” She checks Adrien is too far away to hear them over the noise of the motor. “How do you think he is?”

He follows her gaze over to his son, who’s leaning over the side of the boot looking at the sea, “Hard to know. You know I’ve never been any good at telling anyway.”

She lets herself lean against him and draw comfort from the fact that at least they’re on the same page when it comes to dealing with the situation.

She still finds herself surprised when he offers his hand to help her climb off onto the jetty. It’s going to be a long time before she starts expecting him to treat her like this.

There’s an ice-cream stall when they get to the village. “Did either of you want an ice cream?” Gabriel asks. 

She shakes her head, she’s no appetite for anything at the moment. Adrien turns it down too.

They wander around the village before heading off in the forest and she picks up a larger map of the island. Gabriel on the other hand, well, she _had_ advised him to ask what Adrien wanted but she hadn’t really meant him to keep asking if Adrien wanted him to buy him things.

Eventually Adrien’s patience breaks.

“Please stop.” Adrien says. “I want you to know that out of our many problems you refusing to buy me things isn’t one of them. You don’t have to ask me if I want every single souvenir on offer.”

Gabriel blinks. “That’s good to know.”

He buys a set of snorkelling equipment anyway and she has to contain her eyeroll. Maybe this impulse could be redirected into asking Adrien what he’d like for birthday or Christmas presents and avoiding that usual mess.

They head into the woods in silence each as lost as each other about what to say.

Adrien takes the book she’d given on the various flora and fauna out of the woods out of his backpack and sets himself to ticking things off.

She and Gabriel look at each other in concern. This is neither shaping out to be a particularly successful day for forgetting what had happened yesterday, or one for discussing it. 

Neither of them know how to fix it.

This sort of impromptu family outing is beyond either of them.

Despite what his habit of akumatising people whenever the right emotion strikes might suggest Gabriel does better with structure. It’s not what he creates for himself but he does better when he knows what role he’s supposed to be playing with someone and what’s expected of him. This isn’t the ideal way for him to try to rebuild things with Adrien.

As for her. Well. It’s not like she’s known for her emotional sensitivity. Besides at least Gabriel’s trying to reclaim his _old_ role. She has no idea where exactly she stands in this.

She’s picking her way through some tree roots on the ground when she hears Gabriel swear behind her and whirls around to find him with his hand on the top of his head.

“Did you just walk into a tree branch?” Adrien asks.

“It was too low down.”

“Right.” Adrien says, sounding unconvinced.

“Are you ok?” She interrupts.

“Fine.” Gabriel says, “I’m unfortunately used to bashing my head on things. People should make ceilings taller.”

She _likes_ his height. She’s tall enough that with heels on it’s unusual for a guy to still have a definite height advantage on her, but putting aside her enjoyment of it she can’t pretend there haven’t been a few incidents with doorways and low-ceilinged rooms over the years.

“How did we never defeat you?” Adrien asks rhetorically.

“I didn’t have my major growth spurt until I was 15 so I wouldn’t be smug young man.”

Adrien stops. “I thought I was just taking after Mom.”

“You might be but it’s too early to tell yet. Though I have been waiting years for you to grow taller than Felix.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, “That might actually be a good thing.”

He starts walking again but the conversation seems to have broken down a barrier.

“Can I see Mom when I we get home?” He asks without looking back.

“Yes, yes of course.” Gabriel says immediately.

“Can we say goodbye to her properly? Publicly? I’d like to be able to admit I know she’s definitely gone.”

“I was hoping you’d want that. It’s what I want too.”

So does she. Even if it’s going to be a difficult thing to handle. She’s tried to keep it from Gabriel but at least half the internet assumes he’s killed Emilie already. Trying to explain away her death while minimising her suspicion is going to be a delicate matter. 

Adrien looks back again, “Were you really going to stop?”

“I was.”

She can hear the sincerity in his voice but she can only hope that Adrien can as well.

He doesn’t ask any more questions like that for a while and for a bit she can almost forget the circumstances as he gets excited to tick another bird of his list.

“Did you want to stop for lunch?” She offers when they pass the picnic area.

“I thought maybe we could have our picnic on a beach?” Adrien says, “You said there were lots of little ones here right?”

“There’s supposed to be.” She gets out the map and considers. “We’d best head that way then. Once we get to the coastal path they should be multiple chances to climb down to one.”

When they get there she thinks “beaches” might be a bit of an exaggeration for the pebbly foreshores jutting out between the rocks but then she guesses the lack of sand should be a good thing where food's involved.

It takes a bit of ungainly clambering over rocks but eventually they find one sheltered enough from the path that they won’t be spotted from there, even if there’s nothing to be done about all the boats floating behind here and St. Honorat.

She sits down against the rock wall and helps Gabriel unpack the bag with the food and drink.

Apparently the food gives Adrien the energy to talk more, “So, when you said you wanted to try to be a family, what did you think that was going to look like?”

“I don’t know.” Gabriel admits. “I thought I’d come down here, and do whatever that copy of me was doing with you, and things would sort of develop from there. I didn’t expect it all to get so complicated.”

That could sum up this entire week really.

“Yeah, I didn’t think what happened was your plan.”

“What do you want Adrien?” Gabriel says, “I’m not good at this. I always followed your mother’s lead with you, and you’re seen how things turned out when I followed my own instincts without her. Obviously I’ll have more time for you now, but other than that I don’t really know.”

“Being there at dinner might be a start.”

“I can do that.”

“And, we should definitely do things together, like you could come to one of my fencing matches or maybe we could go to museums together like we used to but, honestly it would mean a lot of you’d let me go out with my friends more. I get why you’re protective, some of my fans can be a bit,” Adrien makes a face, “yeah, but I am growing up, I want to be able to hang out with people like everyone else does.”

“We could review that.” Gabriel says, “I know given your alter-ego you’re capable of looking after yourself but maybe you we could compromise with you having a friend over to the house sometimes instead of going out?”

“Um, yeah, no that’d be great.” Adrien says looking faintly shocked at this response. She maybe should be warned him that when Gabriel sets his mind to something he really does set his mind to it.

“Nathalie, could you look into when Adrien’s free?”

“I can do that.” She agrees. It’s not as if Adrien has something on every weekend. It can’t be that hard.

“About that,” Adrien says, “I know when I was home-schooled we had time for everything, but these days,”

“Your extra-curriculars will look good on your university applications.”

“You know if I want to get into a Grand École they’ll only look at my entrance exams. But no, I don’t want to stop Chinese or piano. I mean I’ll probably take Chinese as one of my baccalaureate languages. It’s just, does my modelling actually make you happy?”

Oh. She should have seen this coming. Adrien used to enjoy the excitement of doing shoots. He’d practically grown up accompanying Gabriel or Emilie to them, and she thinks he’d always found those times when he been in front of the camera a glimpse of the grown up world.

Since they lost Emilie and Gabriel’s been using him more and more as a model for the brand though, she thinks the sheen’s worn off. Especially since he has _other_ ways to socialise with people now.

“I thought you enjoyed modelling.” Gabriel says.

“I used to, but recently,” Adrien sighs, “It’s not fun anymore and I didn’t want to say anything because I wanted you to be proud of me, and you always seemed to enjoy designing things for me and Mom.”

“I can still design things with you in mind without you having to be model for photoshoots. After all it’s not like you generally do the catwalk shows.”

“I still like wearing them!” Adrien rushes to reassure him, “And modelling’s given me loads of opportunities, I just don’t think it’s what I want to do long term.”

Gabriel is silent for a while and for once she can’t guess what he’s thinking. Eventually he says, “I never really thought it was. Though I thought it might be useful if you wanted to act like your mother, and I thought you liked it. It’s fine though, we’ll cancel anything you’re due to do and find other models for them.”

“I don’t want to cause any problems. I can still do anything you’ve already scheduled.”

The rest of it was something Gabriel and Adrien had needed to talk about themselves but _this_ is something she’s qualified to deal with.

“It won’t be a problem. After the photoshoot you’ve just done there isn’t anything coming up so soon that we’d find it difficult to cast someone else.”

Adrien gives her a sceptical look.

“Trust me.” She says. “We’ve dealt with _way_ worse.”

“We really have.” Gabriel says and she can’t help look over at him and silently commiserate over some of the disasters they’ve been through.

“OK.” Adrien squeaks, having apparently slightly misinterpreted what they’re thinking about, “I might go swim.”

“You need to let your food digest.” Gabriel points out.

Adrien pouts but lies down to relax in the sun.

She tries to do the same, but she finds her eyes drawn over to the St. Honarat island, and thinking of the Abbey there. She hasn’t stepped foot in a church in years, and she doesn’t think she’s been to Confession since before her Confirmation, but for some reason now that’s she’s done with Mayura she has the oddest urge to go and seek absolution from someone other than Adrien.

“What are you thinking about?” Gabriel asks.

“Nothing really” She deflects.

She’s not sure she convinces him because he puts an arm around her pulling her in so her back lies back the side of his chest.

It’s certainly more comfortable than the rocks but she can’t stop herself worrying, “I’m not hurting you am I?”

“I told you.” He says, “I’m not that bad at all really.”

She’s not convinced of that, but she gives in and lets her eyes shut for a while. 

* * *

In this little cove they have to themselves and with Nathalie’s comforting weight against his chest and Adrien seemingly happy snorkelling in the sea he can’t help but feel at peace.

This is what he’d been hoping for when he decided to come meet them.

There’s a few discordant notes amongst it all. He can’t forget that the reason that Adrien’s wearing that rash vest with his swim trunks is in case any paparazzi get them with a long range camera and could otherwise notice the remnants of yesterday’s fight.

And he’d _like_ to blame Nathalie’s nap on the sun, and on how late they’d got to sleep last night, but he can’t know whether it’s actually still lingering exhaustion from the Peacock Miraculous, or even emotional exhaustion from everything that’s happened over the last few days.

He can’t make any of that not happen. All he can do is do everything in his power to keep them safe from anything going forward.

He brushes an errant hair back off Nathalie’s face.

Adrien heads back in from the sea and digs into the cool bag to get a bottle of water, and plonks himself down next to them.

“You really like her, don’t you?”

Compared to the weight of the words he’d had with Nathalie last night this is an easy admission to make. “I do.”

Adrien must know he does anyway. It’s not as if he’d do all of this, would have admitted their relationship to his son, if he wasn’t committed to a future with her.

“Why are you asking anyway?”

Adrien takes a swig of his water bottle before answering, “Well, she _is_ asleep. So I figured it was less awkward. It’s just, I don’t get it.”

“What? Nathalie and I?”

He actually does have a lot of defences ready for that. After all he’s spent the last few days convincing _himself_ that he wants this and why. Adrien can only be an easier target. Especially as before he’d known who they were he’d seemed so receptive to the idea.

But apparently that’s not what Adrien’s asking because his son says, “No. _That_ I get. Or I thought I did. I mean you’ve become so close since Mom disappeared, and you seem better with her, and she seems happier with you.”

“So?” He prompts.

“So, I don’t understand how you could let her be Mayura. Not if the Miraculous is so dangerous. I know you said you were in denial about your feelings, but you _did_ care for her. That’s part of what made me worried about her, because I didn’t see you much but I could see you were concerned when I did.”

This is a much harder topic.

“I didn’t _want_ her to become Mayura. I’d specifically told her not to use it, that first time she did-well, I’m sure you could tell that wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan. I was terrified for her.”

“Yeah, we all figured that what happened that day wasn’t your plan, but we never considered the Miraculous having been damaged as the reason for why she never appeared before. I guess I could understand what happened then but that wasn’t the last time she used it. Why didn’t you take it away from her?”

“I tried.” He tries to justify, “I did take it from her once and she took it back, I couldn’t _stop_ her helping me, and once she’d used it that made it her fight too. I knew, or I thought I knew, that winning was the only way to save her, just as it was for your mother. We had a better chance of that with her in the field even if each individual use put her in more danger.”

Adrien looks at him as if he’s still waiting for more of an explanation. More of a justification for what he’d done.

He’s right to. All of that is true, but it’s not the whole truth either.

He looks down at Nathalie’s face relaxed in repose and the fact of how very easily he could have missed out on this hits him.

“I was weak.” He admits to Adrien. “It was…easier to keep going with someone by my side. I didn’t have it in me to refuse the help she offered. It all seemed more possible with a partner.”

Life in general seems more possible with a partner, but then the more he thinks on it, the more it feels like Hawkmoth’s relationship with Mayura had been a parody of what he hadn't realised he actually wanted from Nathalie.

Adrien looks uncomfortable. “I guess I can understand that last bit sort of. That’s why I felt so bad abandoning Ladybug to go on holiday. Especially when it’s much harder for her to leave Paris with her powers.”

“She’ll be able to now.” He points out but it doesn’t seem to raise Adrien’s mood much.

“Yeah, once I work out what I’m going to say to her.”

He should say silent, and it might be dangerous pushing Adrien now but he feels the need to speak. “I know what I’m asking of you is selfish, but I want to make things right with Nathalie. To atone for how I treated her. And for how I’ve treated you.”

Nathalie shifts slightly, and when he looks down her eyes are open if still bleary with sleepiness.

“What are you two talking about?” She ask.

“Nothing for you to worry about dear.” He reassures her.

“That sounds dangerous.” She says. “Is your father lying Adrien?”

His son looks surprised to be called on but he smiles, and surprisingly enough he backs him up, “No, everything’s fine.”

“How are _you_ feeling?” He ask Nathalie.

“I’m _fine._ ” She says.

“ _Nathalie.”_ He reprimands her, “You always say that.”

“I honestly do mean it this time.”

“Hmm, well, if you’re _that_ well, I believe Adrien was looking for someone to go swimming with.”

From the look on her face Nathalie very much does _not_ want to go swimming but, the idea’s certainly caught _Adrien’s_ attention.

“Oh would you?” He says, looking more excited than he had at any of his attempts to buy back his son’s enthusiasm.

“Oh, alright then.” She sighs giving in. “What’s _your_ excuse then Gabriel?”

“You know why I can’t” Much as he’d like to trust in the privacy of this cove he knows better than to do so.

“Adrien seems to have found a way around it.” She points out.

“I didn’t pack anything like that for me.” He hadn’t exactly expected his copy to be off surfing or anything.

“What do you think Adrien? Shall we let him off this time?” She asks.

“Just this once.” Adrien says.

It has the vague sense of a threat about it and he wonders what he’s getting himself into.

“Go ahead, and I’ll join you.” Nathalie tells Adrien and he doesn’t need telling twice, while Nathalie stretches and stands up.

When she throws her dress over her head leaving her just in her swimsuit he does regret that he won’t be following them into the water.

She blushes when she notices his gaze on her. “Your son is literally right there.”

“I’m not _doing_ anything. He’s far too far away to see how I’m looking at you.”

He puts the lie in his own words though, and stands up, giving into the temptation to kiss her goodbye.

It might perhaps end up being a little deeper than usual for that.

“Have fun.” He tells her when he pulls away.

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll try.”

“I hadn’t realised you disliked swimming so much.”

“It’s not the swimming,” She shudders, “It’s the _fish._ I vote for a not-beach holiday next time.” She eyes widen suddenly as if she’s just realised what she’s said. “I mean, I didn’t mean to,”

“Don’t worry.” He says, “I’ll take that into account. Though it might be your vote against Adrien’s. Now go on, he’s waiting for you.”

She turns to leave, but only takes a few steps before turning around. “Do you know, I think that’s the first time you’ve kissed me outside?”

“Do you know, you’re right. I think that means it’s your turn to kiss _me_ outside next.”

She smiles, but rushes after Adrien rather than coming back to him, to take him up on the dare. He supposes it’s for the best. Traumatising Adrien would probably be counter-productive.

* * *

It’s not as bad as she expected, so long as she concentrates on Adrien and not on what else might be in the water with them. Azure crystal clear waters are overrated. Give her the churn of the grey seas of the north where at least it’s not _obvious_ that you’re sharing the water with so many other creatures.

They’re far enough out to float without being worried about hitting the bottom when Adrien speaks, “Do you think I’m selfish?”

She wonders if this was some deliberate strategy on his part to speak to her and Gabriel separately even though his father had been the one to suggest the idea. After all she still doesn’t know what they’d discussed.

His choice of topic throws her completely though, so she doesn’t have to fake any surprise. “What? No, not at all.”

Adrien’s spent most of his holiday concerned for her, and for his father, and for his friends back in Paris. She’s not sure where he’s got the idea he’s selfish from that.

He hadn’t even seemed to give any contemplation to using his Miraculous to bring his mother back, despite the fact that unlike she and Gabriel he probably _could_ get the Ladybug Miraculous with the element of surprise he’d have.

Adrien starts, “It’s just.” Then he gives up.

“Are you worried about being like your father?”

She can’t deny that with her own history Gabriel’s devotion and his sheer determination have always been more attractive to her than they should be, but she does know that where they’d led to hadn’t been healthy.

He stares at her, “That wasn’t it actually, but what if I am? What he did, what _you_ did was wrong, but I don’t know if I can say that if Ladybug died I wouldn’t put on those earrings and bring her back, even though I know the cost.”

She’s made things worse again, and she’s not sure what she should say, because if he did what he’s saying then she wouldn’t blame him.

“I don’t think many people can say they definitely wouldn’t do that in that situation. That doesn’t mean you’re like your father.”

“What if I’m like my mother?” He says, “She basically abandoned us because of what she wanted, didn’t she?”

She’s very tempted to go back to the beach and pull Gabriel down to answer that question. He might be capable of being fair to Emilie. She’s not. And, if Adrien’s going to be angry at one of the three of them she’d rather it was the one of them who isn’t here.

“You’re nothing like her.”

“What?” Adrien says.

“You _look_ like her obviously, and I can’t pretend you’ve nothing in common, I mean you certainly didn’t get your extroversion from your father, but her faults aren’t yours. And neither are your father’s for that matter. You wouldn’t have done what she did, I’m certain of that. And even if you’re not sure you could resist the temptation to save someone you cared about with a Miraculous I don’t think you’d have done what we did either. You’re not selfish Adrien.”

“I think I am though, not because of that, but because I want to forgive you. I mean I’m still angry, I’m going to be angry for a while, and honestly I think maybe I’m going to be furious later because I’m sure it’s really sunk in yet, but.” He let his head fall back in the water, “I’ve lost Mom already, I don’t want to lose you two too.”

“Adrien.”

“I _want_ what my father’s promising we can be, I want us to go back to Paris and be a family, but I’m not being fair to the rest of Paris am I? I’m acting like I’m the only person you wronged.”

“You’re the one we’ve wronged the most.”

“You didn’t know you were doing that though did you?”

“I knew your father wasn’t being fair to you. I pushed him to explain to you what he was doing instead of pushing you away, but I didn’t push hard enough. I told myself it wasn’t my place, but I should have done more. If I’d” She trails off, if she’d _known_ Gabriel was ready to think of her as more than a subordinate, if she’d been certain that he didn’t just view involving her in Hawkmoth’s business as just an extension of her job, then maybe she could have intervened for the better earlier. Though she doesn’t know what she could have done to do it. The circumstances that prompted their current relationship are pretty specific. “Well, it doesn’t matter, I didn’t.”

She finds herself studying the distorted image of her body through the water rather than meeting Adrien’s eyes.

A sudden splash of water in her face spends her spluttering. “Sorry!” Adrien says. “I was just trying to lighten things up a little and get your attention. I didn’t mean to get you in the face.”

She takes off her prescription sunglasses trying to shake the droplets off them. “Well these are no good now.”

“Sorry,” Adrien says again.

“It’s fine.” She says putting them on her head like a headband, at least she won’t be able to see any tiny fish swimming in the sea now, “I think I’m getting off pretty lightly if that’s the worst you do to me.”

She pauses torn between what she should say, and what she wants to say, “You know, I’m a pretty selfish person too. If you want to brainstorm ways your father and I can make reparations to the people of Paris without being identified then I’m your women, but I can’t be an impartial advisor on what we deserve.”

“Have you been considering how you could do that?”

Not deeply really. It might have been different if Ladybug didn’t magically reset anything but as it is she’s only really given it much thought since the need to offer Adrien _something_ in recompense came up.

“I’d thought maybe, some sort of charity? There’s no sort of reconstruction work that needs doing, but counselling for people caught in the attacks maybe? That wouldn’t look odd, given we’ve all been caught up in them.”

“Huh.” Adrien says, “I know you’re not the right person to speak to but it was you or father and well,”

“No that makes sense.”

“You know, I don’t think you’re that selfish. I mean you didn’t get anything out of it did you?”

Technically it had got her his father but it’s true that she hadn’t gone into it with an expectation of that.”

“I wanted to make you and your father happy again. That what I was doing it for.”

“You know you can do that without the Miraculouses right?” Adrien says. “I was happy on this holiday until I discovered it was all a lie.”

“Oh Adrien.” She swims in towards the shore a bit until she can stand, “Come here.”

As she pulls Adrien in to hug him she realises this is probably inappropriate. Just because she’s dating his father doesn’t give her the right to do this, but Adrien clings to her before she can second guess herself.

She finds her fingers combing through his wet hair. “It wasn’t all a lie. I could have gone on a business trip with the sentimonster if all we wanted was an alibi for your father. We did it this way because we wanted you to be happy, and be safe, and we thought a holiday would do that for you. And the decisions I made about what we should do here because I wanted to make you happy? That was true. And you _did_ effectively get your father and I together, even if it wasn’t how you thought.”

“But he wasn’t even here.”

“I’m told you were sending him lots of photos.”

“That _was_ him then?”

“It was.”

“That’s reassuring at least.” Adrien says. He lets go of her and has to paddle in the water, “You’re not cross about that are you?”

She can’t keep her amusement off her face. “I don’t think I can be. Not given the result. And I do know that now, that I don’t need the Miraculous to make you two happy. Or at least not your father. I don’t know if I can say the same for you.”

“I think you’re getting there.” He says. “Just don’t let things go back to how they are after Paris, and um, speaking of my father, you might want to go and tell him everything’s alright.”

She turns and Gabriel is standing at the each of the surf looking like he’s about a second away from coming in after them despite his clothes.

“You don’t want to come?” She asks Adrien.

“I need to think a bit more.” He says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a calm (?) chapter where not much happens after the last one.


	10. Chapter 10

The room phone rings unexpectedly grabbing both their attention but Nathalie recovers sooner and answers it.

Watching her “I see” and “No, I understand,” and “I need to check with Mr Agreste,” is comfortingly familiar despite their changed environment and relationship.

She puts the receiver to her shoulder to muffle the sound. “They need the room back tomorrow, I only booked this one until today. If we're moving anyway did you want to move to a larger one?”

He considers. They don’t need something the size they had before. Not when having Adrien in a separate room suits them all at the moment. They could do with somewhere more to sit though, much as he enjoys the constant proximity of Nathalie and the bed here.

“Something with more of a living room. We could do with somewhere private to talk to Adrien.”

She nods, and goes back to talking on the phone, sorting it out for him. 

“Well, that’s done.” She announces putting the phone down, “I guess we’ll move in the morning. We should put the clothes out for washing too, unless you brought more down with you?”

He shakes his head. He hadn’t foreseen, well, anything of what had happened but most pertinently right now he stupidly hadn’t considered extending their holiday despite the fact in retrospect it would have been the obvious thing to do even if what he’d found here had been what he’d expected to find.

“I thought not.” She sighs. “At least I’ve the clothes I packed for myself, though I’ll be short on dresses for the evening. I hadn’t counted on eating with you.”

Personally he’d love to see her in everything he’d missed, but he _does_ have a reputation to uphold and having his lover wear repeats because he couldn’t be bothered to give her enough clothes for each night doesn’t fit it.

He considers her, forcing himself to look her up and down with an eye for measuring rather than appreciating for once. “We could some shipped down from the archives in time for tomorrow. You’d fit a sample size wouldn’t you?”

“Just about. I can’t say it’d fit right. We might be better off shopping here if you’re determined to dress me up.”

He moves over so he can take her hand. “You can’t blame me for that when it makes you look so captivating. Besides it seems like I’m in need of a new muse if Adrien’s trying to throw off the role.”

She lets her head fall against his shoulder, “Really not model material here.”

“I’d disagree.” He says truthfully, “But I’m not going to force you in front of a camera. Really I don’t know why you and Adrien seem to think that just because I design better with someone in mind means they have to be the one to market it.”

“Maybe because you _did_ make him the face of the brand, just like Emilie before him.”

That’s truth but in his defence, “That suited both Emilie and I, I’m not going to force you into a role you don’t want. Or that he apparently didn’t want. I honestly thought he enjoyed it the way his mother did.”

“He used to I think.”

That seems possible. Adrien seems to have changed so much while he wasn’t paying attention to him and now he’s not sure that he can claim to know his son _at all_ anymore. Certainly despite the transformation taking place in front of his eyes it’s still difficult to reconcile the cocky loud Chat Noir with his reserved polite son.

“Did you want to go shopping then?” Nathalie asks as the silence lengthens.

“You’re not wearing anyone else’s clothes.”

She rolls her eyes at his possessiveness. “Don’t you have a boutique here?”

Well. That could work. Silly as it seems for him to buy things from his own company.

* * *

The staff in the store are all in a flutter at seeing the owner and auteur of their company arrive.

That’s she’s experienced before.

The attention when Gabriel announces that they’re shopping for her though is beyond her past experience, and her initial instinct is to try to duck their attention, and fade into the background like she normally does on business with or for Gabriel.

Her confidence isn’t helped by how he trips over how to describe her before settling on her name.

Poor Adrien looks as embarrassed as she feels. She thinks that when he’d agreed to come shopping with them it had been out of some idea that that was what families _did_ together forgetting exactly who his father was and this was never going to be _normal_.

When Gabriel gets an idea in his head though, it’s hard to not get swept up in his energy, and it’s not really possible to go unnoticed when you’re the centre of attention.

He might not be ready to call her his girlfriend but he’s certainly happy to _act_ like she is, and she finds herself taking her cue from him and acting as if there’s absolutely nothing unusual in what’s going on. It’s almost fun.

The pile of accepted clothes grows slowly but surely.

Gabriel looks her up and down in the latest dress and says, “We’ll take it.”

There’s still some slight dissatisfaction on his face. “Missing something?”

“In a way. If only,” his hand hovers over his cravat as if he’s picking up on a negative emotion, then his eyes widen, “I can wear different ties now.”

She can’t stop herself from laughing. “I hadn’t even thought of _that._ ”

Adrien looks between them, “What are you two… _oh._ Yeah, I’d be kind of worried if that was the first thing you thought of after everything happened.”

Gabriel looks unimpressed at that but he drags Adrien over to the menswear section regardless.

It’s uncomfortable letting the two of them go off together without her guidance but it’s not as if she can move until she goes and changes out of this dress, and she supposes gets it wrapped up for them to take.

They manage to wrap things up in the shop without too much embarrassment even if she’s not going to be able to forget the simultaneously judgemental and deferential looks the staff had eyed her with for a while.

She’d wanted to yell that Emilie was _dead,_ and she’s done far more to attempt to bring her back than any of them had ever done. They don’t have any right to judge her and Gabriel. None of _them_ had risked their lives for Emilie’s sake.

Gabriel’s allowed to move on. She’s allowed to accept what he’s offering her.

It’s possible she might be projecting a little bit.

Gabriel comes to a stop outside a jewellers. “You didn’t bring anything sapphire with you did you? Blue sapphire I mean?”

“I’ve a pair of studs.”

She’s spent a lot of time eyeing them before she’d bought them unsure if they were worth the money but while unique designer jewellery might have been beyond her price range a plain pair of studs _was_ doable and they looked chic enough to pass much better in the environs she was forced into for work than the plain gold or silver she’d worn before.

“Hmm.” He still doesn’t look satisfied, “What’s the metal? You’re not usually one for gold tones are you?”

Despite how it had ended it she can’t help but feel a little pleased that the choice of white gold for the bracelet she’s used for the amok hadn’t been just been random.

“No, they’re silver.”

“I can work with that.”

He waves them in and thoroughly embarrasses her as he talks about necklaces with a member of the staff.

The more mercenary part of her is screaming at her to let this continue but his wealth has never been the main focus of her attraction to Gabriel.

“You don’t have to, you know.” She reminds him.

“I want to.” He says. “Now can well try on that collet necklace?” He asks the salesperson. “And the star sapphire pendant?”

The first comes up a little too long for the type of necklace it is. They could get it shortened but the latter does hang beautifully, and after a bit of back and forth between them where she tries to convince him that she _really_ does not need it that’s the one they end up settling on.

Besides the collet necklace felt a little _too_ much like something Audrey Bourgeois would wear and that’s not a fight she want to have right now.

He also buys her a blue sapphire tennis bracelet which again, _gorgeous,_ but she also really does not need.

Though if he’s as definite about making appearances, and bringing her along with him as he seems to be, then it might be no harm to have the sort of jewellery that would mark her as belonging.

Adrien’s looks thoroughly uncomfortable throughout all of this and she regrets inviting him along. As well as he’s taken her relationship with his father this _must_ be difficult for him getting it thrust in his face like this.

He’s taking to hovering to by the ring section and seems unnervingly focused on the section with rubies.

“You’re a little young for an engagement ring.” Gabriel says, startling Adrien and scaring away the saleswomen hovering by him ready to pounce, “But I suppose we could get _something_ for your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Adrien tries to defend himself, but it’s somewhat undercut by how bright red he’s gone.

“Well it’s a little extravagant but we _could_ get something small for Miss Tsurigi, Miss” Gabriel stops and she can see the concentration on his face.

She leans over so he can whisper, “Marinette Bread-or-baking-something?”

“Dupain-Cheng?” She offers.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng” He says triumphantly to Adrien, “And your….partner.”

Adrien blinks. “I’m definitely not dating the three of them. Kagami rejected me for not being able to choose, and Marinette’s just a friend, and you-know-who rejected me too.”

“Much as I dislike the idea that sounds like three apology bracelets to me.” Gabriel says.

“What? Bracelets? Why? _What_?”

“I believe that earrings wouldn’t work for a number of reasons?”

“But, ok that’s true, and I probably do owe Kagami an apology, and I can see why you’re want to buy _her_ goodwill, but what’s Marinette got to do with anything? We’re just friends, and I’m not sure she even likes me that much, she’s always so quiet around me compared to how she is with Nino when she doesn’t know I’m there.”

Rationally Ladybug is who they should be trying to push Adrien towards in the hope that she might be less willing to send her boyfriend’s father to prison but she can’t help but feel a kinship with this girl who’s clearly suffering from Adrien inheriting his father’s gene for obliviousness.

She’s not sure what she can do for Miss Dupain-Cheng though given what it had taken for her. Short of inviting Amelie and Felix over for his next school holiday, which _no_ , and somehow bribing Felix to spend time with the girl she’s not sure how these circumstances could be recreated.

Gabriel clearly finds Adrien’s denials as convincing as she does, “Yes, I’m sure the issue is that she doesn’t like you.”

“ _What?”_ Adrien says, “Are you saying she likes me too? How would you even know that? You’ve never even been to anything at my school. You barely know her name.”

“No, but I’ve met the girl in question and quite a few things are starting to make more sense to me.”

She certainly can’t deny that. As someone who was willing to martyr herself for Gabriel she can’t help but wonder if the whole grovelling return of the grimoire had actually been the girl trying to take the fall for Adrien instead of just trying to make things right for getting him in trouble.

“That can’t be right. I’d _know_ if that was the case. If she liked me,” Adrien stops himself but she can’t help but feel that maybe she’s a girl he’d more on from Ladybug with. Which again, _would_ have been great when they were fighting them but isn’t the optimal now because they need to get Ladybug onside somehow, and Adrien’s the only one who can do that.

“How long was I in denial about Nathalie?” Gabriel asks.

Adrien’s eyes widen. “Oh _no._ ”

“So three’s correct?”

“They’ll get there eventually.” She reassures the salesperson as if they haven’t already spent _far_ too money here to justify their time.

“I can’t just give them all jewellery.” Adrien says looking scandalised, “That would be like I was leading them on.”

“So just for you-know-who then?”

She can see the fight between what Adrien thinks is right, and the temptation of something to give his crush, and eventually he says, “It’s the least I owe her I guess.”

This sets off Gabriel and Adrien in a frenzied discussion about the best options. Though Adrien seems perfectly capable of being indecisive even without Gabriel's input than anything else. “I mean the obvious option is red right? But is that too obvious? I think her favourite colour is pink? And I guess yellow gold, or rose gold with her skintone?”

“She always struck me as a practical girl.” She reminds the Agrestes.

Gabriel looks over at her, “That could describe you too. And you’re convincible otherwise.”

Eventually they do leave the shop with a gift for the girl. Personally given age of the girl in question _she_ would have given her something metallic with charms but given its Gabriel _and_ Adrien at work they’re ended up with another tennis bracelets for his not-girlfriend.

It’s probably lucky that black diamonds aren’t a commonplace item or Gabriel could have ended up with a much worse bill at the end of that. Not that it wouldn’t be worth it if it will work as bribe for their freedom.

Despite how ridiculous he's been tonight she does let him kiss her on the street onside much as she knows it’s going to look _terrible_ in the papers if they’re photographed with all the bags she’s holding.

Maybe she wants the fairytale sometimes. So sue her.

* * *

“So,” Adrien says at breakfast over the noise from everyone around them, “What were you two thinking for today?”

“The beach again maybe?” Nathalie suggests, “I’d thought maybe a sailing class might be fun for the three of us, but I didn’t think you and your father were quite up to that yet.”

She’s probably sadly correct about that. The pain isn’t really that noticeable but strenuous activities probably aren’t a good idea.

“Yeah.” Adrien agrees, “I’m really starting to realise how much I’d been taking for granted.”

What could have happened if Ladybug hadn’t been able to fix everything is something he’s purposely not thinking about for the sake of what remains of his sanity.

He gives in to Nathalie’s suggestion. He’s not sure either of them _really_ want to do it, though at least they shouldn’t have to do much and he’s still not quite convinced she’s up to her old strength, but Adrien obviously does favour the idea and he’s supposed to be making things up with his son.

And he does want to.

And of course if he doesn’t both he and Nathalie’s aren’t going to have much of a future.

He can’t push Adrien though. Better to delay that decision as long as possible, and just try to enjoy the time they have here, and hope it makes a convincing better future for all of them.

He can’t quite shift his mind into the present and onto a happier track like he needs to to do that though, so he’s thrown when Nathalie taps him on the shoulder to get his attention when they’re getting ready.

The look her eyes surprises him, when he turns around. It almost reminds him of the look he’d seen in _Mayura_ just before she instigated a plan.

With that, and how her other hand is hidden behind her back he’s not sure this bodes well for him. “What have you got for me?”

“Tada!” Nathalie says holding out something made of swimming costume material, “It wouldn’t work at the pool but now you’ve _no_ reason not to go in the sea with Adrien rather than relying on me.”

He looks at the navy-blue rash vest. If the person presenting it was anyone other than Nathalie trying to the fix things between him and his son he’d probably walk out the door, but it _is_ Nathalie, and she _is_ trying to help with Adrien so he gives in. 

* * *

Possibly Gabriel isn’t that impressed with her right now from the dark looks he keeps shooting her from over where Adrien has him trying to construct a, well she thinks it might be a boat but she isn’t really sure from this distance, out of sand. 

Adrien waves at her when he notices her looking.

She waves back.

Right now she doesn’t feel guilty about it at all.

In other situations she might feel like she should join them but right now she’s quite happy to stand in the shade, and off the sand, and with a nice cold drink and watch them.

It’s good for both of them she thinks.

* * *

“You know,” Nathalie says while Adrien runs off with this boy he apparently knows _finally_ freeing him, “Adrien found a piano here.”

“Your point?”

“He wasn’t wrong when he told me and your copy he was worried about getting behind.”

“Then he should be practicing.”

“He does. But wouldn’t he be better someone helping him?” She leans over and traces a nail down the valley in the centre of his abdomen and he doesn’t believe at all that she doesn’t know what she’s doing, “And don’t we have another pianist to give him feedback right here?”

That feels like it’s over flattering his skills. “I’m not a teacher.”

“You’d a better one than me given I can’t even read music. And he would appreciate it. He likes it when you duet, and we’re supposed to be giving him what he wants aren’t with?”

Probably given the fact that he’s just about managed to realise that Hawkmoth _was_ a mistake he should try to work out how to say no to the women in in life.

Instead he finds himself sat down on a piano stool next to that evening Adrien as his son haltingly makes his way through a piece.

“Haven’t you done this one before?” He can’t help asking.

Adrien straightens. “My teacher only just gave me this one before we went on holiday.”

“Well relax. You’re only making your playing worse sitting all stiffly like that. You’ll tired your arms quicker that way.”

It’s probably slightly hypocritical to worry about Adrien’s physical condition after all the damage he’d unwittingly inflicted on him, but if he’d supposed to be teaching Adrien piano then he’s going to do just that.

Adrien starts again but he goes from playing slowly and awkwardly and to rushing through it too fast sloppily.

He knows he only sees the end results and not the practise usually but he could have sworn his son was _better_ at this, than this evening would suggest.

“Now you’re going too fast. Stop thinking I won’t notice your mistakes if you hurry on from them.”

The next attempt is little better.

“Maybe we should abandon it for the night. You’re clearly not in the best mindset for it.”

“It’s a little hard to be isn’t it?” Adrien mutters.

He stills. Adrien had seemed relaxed with him and Nathalie earlier. He hadn’t considered that being sat with him _alone_ rather than out with the two of them in public might feel more dangerous to Adrien. And Nathalie _had_ surrendered first. Adrien might trust her over him.

All this time they’ve been worried about the threat Adrien could be to them, and they hadn’t thought about how Adrien might feel about being with the two people he’d been fighting the whole time. They’re powerless now without their Kwamis but he’s learnt full well that feelings are hardly rational.

“Adrien.” He starts, ready to apologise.

Adrien doesn’t let him, but at least he seems to realise he wasn’t trying to tell him off.

“It’s just, sometimes when we’re outside together I can almost forget what’s happening. And then, I remember that Mom’s dead, and you’re Hawkmoth, and I’m going to have to tell Ladybug _something_ and I don’t even know how to feel.”

This is bad.

He’s not good at this comforting people thing. Emilie always handled this sort of thing with Adrien, his son doesn’t come to _him_ for comfort.

If only Adrien could have said this while Nathalie was around, between the two of them they might have a chance of giving Adrien what he needs, but alone he’s going to be totally inadequate.

He pulls his son into a sideways hug. He’s can’t pretend it will work on Adrien as effectively as it does on Nathalie but it usually makes _him_ feel better so hopefully it’ll do something.

Adrien relaxes into it. “It doesn’t seem real. I’d given up on seeing Mom again already, but I what you’ve told me should make it more final and yet it doesn’t seem any different.”

“It doesn’t to me either.” He finds himself admitting, “Giving up should have felt more like a betrayal than it did, or at least like some sort of closure, but I don’t know. I think I’ve been fooling myself for a long time.”

“She shouldn’t have asked you to do it.”

He shuts his eyes finding it to too hard to say what he needs to say to Adrien’s face. He can’t bear see the rejection that in eyes. “You can’t blame her for wanting to live. Blame me for agreeing if you have to.”

“Why did you? How could you do everything you did to the rest of Paris?”

“I didn’t think I could live without her. And, if I won I was going to put everything back how it was, ideally no one would have remembered anything of what happened. Even when I failed Ladybug fixed everything. It’s easy to get inured to the violence when none of the results were permanent.”

He’d got to a point where it seemed reasonable to do _anything_ to _anyone_ for Emilie’s sake. People in the abstract have never mattered to him. He’s only ever cared about the people he cared for, and yet he thinks that maybe he hadn’t used to be as blasé about violence as he’s become.

He doesn’t say any of this to Adrien.

Not when he’s opened his eyes to a face that’s imploring him to be better.

“Did you never regret _any_ of it?”

“At times I did. I regretting putting you in harm’s way. I regretting letting Nathalie use that broken Miraculous. But that was easy to forget when I transformed, and the more I did the more I had to win because that was the only way I can fix things.”

“It wouldn’t have worked.” Adrien says, “You couldn’t have just put everything back to how it was before, the cost of that would be too high.”

“I realised that,” He sighed, “that’s why I gave up, it’s why I didn’t try to convince you to join me when I discovered you were Chat Noir.”

Adrien looks up at him, “I don’t just mean losing someone else you cared about instead, I mean I don’t know that even my miraculous combined with Ladybug’s could have done that. To make it all like it never happened? What would be the equivalent cost of that?”

“But your mother said,”

“Maybe she didn’t know. She can’t have meant to die either.”

“No. No she’s can’t have.”

“I keep thinking that maybe when I see her this is all going to make sense.” Adrien’s grip in him tightens, “I’ve lost her to Miraculous magic, and I don’t want to lose you too.”

“You don’t have to.” He tries to convince him.

* * *

She’s miss-stepped. That’s all she can think when Gabriel opens the door as on edge as she’s ever seen him. They'd been, if not quite comfortable with an other, at least enjoying doing things together then, so she can't understand how things have gone wrong when she left the two of them alone but it's oh so clear that they must have.

“What happened?” She asks in trepidation.

“Adrien and I talked. About Emilie, and about Hawkmoth.”

“That’s good isn’t it?”

“I suppose.” He collapses down into the seat opposite her, “He said he didn’t want lose me as well as her.”

He sounds oddly defeated for a man who’s just received what _should_ be a good sign. She goes and sits on the armrest of his seat so she can pull his head to her chest, and run her fingers over his hair, and slowly feels the tension leech out of him.

“Isn’t that we want him to feel?” She feels guilty even as she says it. While trying to lift Adrien’s spirits, and letting him push his father towards the life he wants them to have is something she’d want to do anyway the fact that they have to earn his goodwill gives everything a sickly tinge of manipulation.

And it’s not as if they have any other choice and it _is_ for Adrien’s own good in the long run because their disgrace would bring him down too but that doesn’t make it any easier, that all of this has to convince him to do what they want.

She just wishes Gabriel could have stopped earlier with Adrien safely unknowing of whom he’d been fighting against this whole time.

“It should be. I don’t know. Part of me feels like _he’s my son_ and it shouldn’t be a big thing for him to put his family above Ladybug, but it is to him. I can’t deny that, and I wish I could spare him that guilt.”

“Ladybug was there for him when we weren’t.” She says, “I shouldn’t be a surprise to us that he’s finding the idea of lying to her difficult.”

Gabriel surprises her by pulling her down into the seat with him. “When _I_ wasn’t there for him. There was only so much you could have done then.”

“I should have done more.” She confesses. “I thought bringing Emilie back was our only chance to fix things, or I would have.”

She should have anyway. She’s _not_ Adrien’s mother. She hadn't had any right to interfere in his upbringing. But, she _had_ sometimes in Emilie’s absence, school being the most obvious time, and Gabriel had _allowed_ it. She’d told herself that he could fire her if he’d thought she’d overstepped with Adrien, and that things _were_ better with her here, but after she'd become Hawkmoth’s accomplice that seems a flimsy excuse with how unlikely that was. She’d put not angering Gabriel ahead of helping Adrien. She’d be a terrible mother if she was his.

“We were both blind.” He says.

They fall into a comfortable silence because here where it’s only each other, and they don’t have to pretend to be someone they’re not, and they each know each others sins, and want each other anyway it’s easy. It's the outside world that's hard.

They can't stay here in each others arms forever though and eventually she shifts despite how little she wants to move, “We have to get through dinner.”

* * *

Nathalie still seems morose when they get back to the room. He’d seen the light in her eyes dim further at Adrien’s withdrawal from them at dinner, and even though it had been obvious she was trying to coax Adrien out and his son _had_ responded her mood hadn't seemed to lift.

In truth he hadn’t thought Adrien had seemed much different to how he'd often been at home and it makes him wonder how he must have down here before his arrival for Nathalie to register such a change.

But then he should know that. He’d had that one night before everything came out into the open. Adrien _had_ been more confident then. Embarrassed, but confident.

That though means that Adrien had been unhappy at home despite having nothing like the burden on him he has here. Which that shouldn’t be possible he'd _literally had a Miraculous that sensed emotions._ How could he have been so _bad_ at it? How could have missed so much about the two most important people in his life.

He watches Nathalie as she goes through her routine. _She_ he can distract from all of this for a little while at least.

* * *

All of what’s happening is probably necessary if they’re going to get through this but it doesn’t make her feel any better in the moment.

Gabriel’s arms slide round her waist from behind. _That_ does make her feel better right now. Impossible as it still seems they have each other and that makes it all feel manageable somehow.

“Come to bed.” He says.

It’s early for that still. She doesn’t think he’s got _sleeping_ in mind though.

“Let me change first.”

“I can help with that.”

She pulls out of his embrace so she can turn around to face him.

“Let me take my makeup off first at least, and I’ll let you.”

Whatever the hotel already thinks of them after their destruction of the suite, she’s not going to make it worse by getting makeup all over the sheets.

He reaches out and stokes her cheekbone, and she almost loses her resolution. “Don’t be long.”

“I won’t be.”

* * *

He could listen to the sounds he’s coaxing out of Nathalie forever. Right now he's still taken by the novelty of it, he's worked with her by his side for years but he'd never known that she could look and sound like this. Hearing her gasp his name is something he's certain he’s never going to get bored of though, even years down the line when they know each others bodies just as much as they know the rest of each other.

Their current exploration is rather slowed down by Nathalie’s fear of injuring him further. His attempts to explain that she's worth a little pain seem to keep falling on deaf ears. All he can do is take what she'll give him.

Suddenly her way she says his name changes to accusatory and she pulls away him, leaving him confused.

She seems to be trying to look at the curve at the bottom of the side of her neck where his mouth had been moments ago.

“Has that marked?” She says sounding worried.

“Probably.” He can't quite keep the snugness out of his voice as he surveys the reddened area he's left marking her indelibly as _his_.

“You know exactly what I have to wear here, and that it'll show in most of them. Could you not have waited until we got back to Paris, where I have clothes that'd cover it?”

The image of Nathalie back in her usual work attire throws him. Strange that after years of seeing her one way he’d got so used to seeing her another way in a matter of days but the idea of going back to their old ways that it suggests is unsettling.

“It's summer in Paris too. That's not exactly polo neck and blazer weather.” He says as if a change of clothes could bring the changed atmosphere surrounding them back to Paris with them. For all his fortune is built in convincing people that it could he knows it's a lie. The different outfits she's worn here made it easier to see her differently but he wouldn't be here if he didn't have deeper feelings for her underneath.

She shakes her head in exasperation but he can see the fondness underlying it.

It makes him try to reconcile the images of he and Nathalie in the Atelier as they’ve always been in the past and the he and Nathalie lying in this bed together now. Somehow it's less hard than it should be, imaging a future where there’s nothing to stop him from putting an arm around her when they’re stood to together reviewing things, and where at one of her small smiles of triumph when they’re pulled something off he could kiss her, and one where she might actually admit what's wrong to him when something clearly is instead of hiding behind a wall of professionalism and competence.

“You might not know this,” she starts, “but luckily for me, I work in a climate controlled environment. So there won't be any issues wearing my usual workwear.”

“Now I think about it I _do_ know that. A bit extreme to keep it that cold though. Doesn't sound very environmentally friendly.”

“My boss is a real stickler about safely storing any fabric he has in there. Besides if we had it any warmer he wouldn't be any to wear the number of layers he likes to.”

He can’t help but take the bait she’s offered, “Your boss? What's he like?” 

She smirks, “Oh he's very demanding. A real perfectionist even though he’d forget his own head if I wasn’t there.”

He can't deny that. Not after what had happened in her absence. Not that Nathalie is ever learning about the mess he made of the Atelier. She doesn’t need to know that and it would only worry her. 

“Well, I'm sure he appreciates everything you do for him.” He hopes she can see past this little game they’re playing and hear the sincerity in his voice.

Her smirk turns into a more genuine smile, “Do you know? I'm starting to think he does.”

“That sounded rather fond. Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know. Do you think you should be?”

“I think that if _I_ had you with me alone in that outfit you like to wear to work I’d find it very difficult to resist the temptation to get you out of it.” He finds himself stroking the soft skin where he’s holding onto her waist with his thumb.

“That doesn’t sound like it would be good for our productivity. I’d like to think that even if he wanted to do that he could restrain himself until we’re done working.”

“Oh, I’m fairly certain he’ll want to.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Are you now?” 

“I am. And certainly the promise of you after all the work is done would make _me_ more productive.”

“It would?”

“It’s quite the incentive to get everything done by the end of the day rather than working late.”

“Maybe I _should_ make that suggestion to my boss then. I’m sure Payroll would be delighted not to have to keep paying me over the odds for overtime.”

“Ah, so you’re _not_ uninterested the idea then?”

“Well, you know he can be rather convincing when he puts his mind to it.”

“ _Can_ he be?”

“I think so. When he fixes his attention on you it feels like you’re the most important person in the world.”

“Maybe that’s because you are to him.” He can’t resist the temptation, “Is he handsome?”

“Very handsome.” She says indulgently, “but I think there’s much better things he could be doing with his mouth than fishing for compliments.”

He obliges her.

Not that he wouldn’t want to anyway, but it’s probably a good thing he stopped talking when he did. He was probably about to say something stupid like that he’d heard her boss had a vacancy for wife at the moment, and it’s for too soon to be making jokes like that.

* * *

Maybe it’s their conversation last night that makes her do it, but as she’s lying in his arms the next morning scrolling through her phone deleting spam emails as her brain fully comes online she finds herself scrolling over to their work calendar.

Staring at it in horror she thinks this is usually when she’d be trying to find a way to fix the situation without Gabriel ever finding out, even though in this case that’s rather impossible, and technically it’s his own fault.

She should have thought of it though. _That’s_ what she’s actually paid to do. Not any of what she’s been doing in this holiday.

Despite that while she’s as panicked as ever about how they can sort all of this out without messing up things they’ve been working on for months she actually finds herself quite sanguine about Gabriel’s reaction. It’s hard to be concerned about him getting cross at her when she’s fairly certain it would be easy to distract him away to pleasanter things.

Probably best to break the news _now_ in one sharp go though, rather than easing him into it.

She looks over her shoulder but he’s still asleep. She almost doesn’t want to wake him, not when he _finally_ seems to be developing a normal sleeping pattern.

That isn’t really a choice though. Not when there’s so much to be done.

Sitting up she’s about to shake him awake when she has second thoughts about it. Instead she fully disentangles herself from his grip and gets up and out to the coffee machine in the sitting area.

When she comes back with two hot cups for them he’s already awake blinking blearily around. She puts down her coffee on her bedside table then leans over him to put his down and pick up his glasses.

She’s stymied in her attempt to settle back down next to him because he’s hugged onto her waist, with his head pressed up against her midriff.

“I missed you.” He says.

“I was gone less than a minute.”

“I don’t like waking up without you.”

He’s going to have to when they get back to Paris but she feels like saying that right now would be counter-productive.

“Let go of me, so I can sit down.”

He does but she enjoys how reluctant the loosening of his grip on her is. She treasures every little sign she gets of being wanted, and she’s quite ready to let him try to overwhelm her with them.

His eyes focus on her face when she slips his glasses on.

“Surely it’s too early for something more to go wrong?”

It’s time to say it. “Neither of us told the company we were extending our holiday here.”

He pales. “It was the last thing on my mind after everything that happened.”

“Mine too.”

“How bad is it?”

“You’ve a meeting first thing Monday.”

“Could I call in from here?”

“Let me check.” He _would_ be expected to call in electronically but she’s not sure if the whole meeting is virtual or if she’d usually “take” him there on the tablet, “It was supposed to be a video-conference call so we can get away with that.”

“Alright.” He sighs, “Help me fix this. Work out what we can do from here, and what has to be re-scheduled.”

She takes a sip of her own coffee. “Most people won’t be working today, we’ll have to wait until Monday to make contact.”

“But you can prepare have a list ready of what we’ll need to re-arrange?”

“Yes.”

“And make sure we’ve access to the company servers.”

“I’ll get that done sir.”

He reaches out to caress her face. “I really _would_ be lost without you wouldn’t I? But seriously Nathalie, maybe don’t call me that here. Unless it’s under rather different circumstances.”

Her brain stutters somewhat at the implications of that last sentence, but she drags it back to the present circumstances, “I can inform the company we’re only working part-time while we’re here, but what about Adrien? Is he going to be ok with this? We’re reliant on him not to expose us, and he’s expecting us to spend time with him.”

She doesn’t want to worry he more, but it’s a valid concern, and she can see her recognises it too from the tightening in his jawline.

“Adrien’s reasonable. He’ll have to understand. Keeping the brand afloat is very different to being Hawkmoth. And, it’s not like he expects us to spend _all_ our time with him. I don’t think he’s going to expose us to the world and ruin our lives in a fit of pique because we couldn’t get out of a few pre-scheduled meetings”

“It’s a bit different him going back to his room without us after dinner and us abandoning him for work.”

“We’ll work something out. I shouldn't need you here for all my meetings, you should be with Adrien.”

“I’m,” she hesitates, “You’re his father, you’re who he wants to spend time with.”

She’s not sure her attention will be enough to convince Adrien that a life with them is worth lying to Ladybug and the rest of the world about how exactly he acquired the Peacock and the Butterfly.

“You’re important to him too,” Gabriel says earnestly, “He thinks of you as part of his family. He _likes_ spending time with you in a more social context.”

“I can try, I suppose. I think we should tell him though.”

“Yes, if we’re supposed to be gaining his trust then honesty seems the best policy.”

That doesn’t feel _right_ really and yet she can’t quite disagree with that when it’s been something she’s been pushing for months.

Gabriel smiles at her, “Just look as concerned when you tell him as when you broke it to me, and I don’t think he’ll have it in him to be too cross at you.”

“I think you and Adrien have come from _very_ different places when it comes to how you feel about me.”

“I’m not going to deny _that_ , but he’s not one to make anyone he cares for feel bad, and he _does_ care for you.”

Surprisingly he’s not wrong.

When she has to blurt out at the breakfast table how they’ve completely screwed up, and they’re supposed to be working this week, and how she can push most of it forward but not all of it, Adrien actually takes it and her assurances that they’re still doing to spend as much time with him as they can, and that they really don’t want to be doing this but they can’t cancel all of it pretty well.

He even seems to look between her and his father as if _she_ might need defending from Gabriel but that that’s no longer really the case really isn’t something she can share with them.

Both Agrestes look at her oddly when she tells them to refresh their calendars on their phones. She’s quite proud of how far she’s got already this morning. Personally she thinks their new updated colour coded schedules are a work of art. Creativity might be beyond her but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like things to look pretty.

“Um, what’s unallocated bonding time?” Adrien says.

“Oh, that’s for you and your father to work out. I thought some of it should be piano but I wanted the two of you to pick the rest.”

“So the rest of mine is just me?”

“No, you’re green and your father’s light blue and the turquoise is for both of you.”

“And the darker turquoise is when we’re with you as well?”

“Yes, I’m navy.”

“Oh.” Gabriel interjects, “So the dark blue is,”

“Yes.” She cuts him off before he can completely manage to embarrass them in front of Adrien. At least she was able the cover the bruise he’d left on her neck with concealer before her came down. That would have been mortifying otherwise.

* * *

Nathalie's phone goes with a message notification. He hopes it's not work. She hadn’t seemed to think they needed to worry about that until tomorrow, and he doesn't want her to have to work any more than she had too. This _was_ supposed to be relaxing for her and positive outcomes or not he can't pretend it's been that.

He already feels bad that she’s had to take her tablet down to the beach with them to send some preparatory messages but he’d hoped it would only be a case of _sending_ them, not replying.

She stares at the phone with pursed lips.

“All ok?”

“Just a friend.” She looks up, “I hope you haven’t changed your mind about us being a public thing because we’re made the papers.”

She leans over to show him her screen where someone’s sent her a screenshot of a website, followed by a line of exclamation marks interspersed with question marks.

The largest photo on the page from their shopping trip, where he’d learnt over and kissed her on the way back.

After his experience seeing the photos of the sentimonster it’s oddly pleasing to see his actual self being the one with her this time. He can’t quite tear his eyes along from it and he finds himself wishing the three of them had taken more photo since his arrival. He wants that reminder that this is real and happening.

“Gabriel?” She asks, and for once the worry in her tone is obvious to him.

“We’d made them before. I’m just glad it’s actually me this time.”

She frowns. “It wasn’t real though before. We both knew that. This is different. I know you value your privacy, I don’t want you to feel like you have to make some sort of public declaration for my sake.”

“If it bothered me I wouldn’t be out here with you. Just ignore them. I do.”

He’s never going to like the media even if he has to work with them to market his designs but if they _have_ to pry into his life he’d much rather it was about this than their intrusive prodding into Emilie’s disappearance.

“If you say so.” She mutters.

The thought occurs to him that though there _have_ been rumours about him and Nathalie before this must be much more disconcerting for _her_ than it is for _him._ He’s used to being someone of interest to the paparazzi. Nathalie isn’t.

“Are you ok with this?” He asks suddenly realising that while Nathalie’s no passive participant _he’s_ been the one to initiate any displays of affection why they’re in public. “Would you prefer if we were more quiet about it.”

She shrugs. “I’m fairly certain I probably shouldn’t Google my name for a few months, but no, no I’m happy for people to know. Besides the cats rather out of the bag now isn’t it?”

“What are you going to say to your friend?”

“I don’t know.” She says, “We’re not that close. She’s old university friend I usually hear from every few months or so. We try and get dinner once or twice a year, and usually if I was in a relationship I probably wouldn’t mention it until then, but it seems I’ve been pre-empted.”

She still doesn’t look quite sure of herself worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she types something out and then deletes it.

“What do you want me to say?” She asks.

“Say whatever you feel is best, I trust your judgement.”

For Nathalie’s sake he hopes this isn’t someone who’s suddenly decided she’s of more interest because of his fame or wealth. He knows she isn’t any more impressed by desperate hangers on than he is.

Whatever she sends it clearly doesn’t satisfy her correspondent because her message tone keeps going at as Nathalie types back-and-forth.

“She’s not being difficult about it is she?”

Nathalie looks over, “She’s worried you’re taking advantage of me, and I’m going to have my heart broken.”

“You can tell her I’ve no intention of doing that.”

Her head tilts, and the side of her mouth curves up, “I’m sure that’s really going to reassure her.” 

In truth he thinks her friend is right to be worried. Looking back at how he’s treated Nathalie since he lost Emilie, what he’d asked of her, and what he’d let her do, he finds he hates himself a little. If anyone over than him had done all of that he’d probably punch the man, and try to organise it so Nathalie never had to see him again.

Unfortunately he’s not a good enough man to give her up, so as long as she wants this too he has no intention of doing so.

“Then I suppose I’ll just have to prove it by not doing it.”

* * *

“So we have a problem.” Adrien announces at dinner. “But I kind of can’t talk about it in public.”

Why he couldn’t have waited until dessert to say that she couldn’t say. As it is all it does is put them all on edge for the remainder of the meal.

At one point she has to put her hand on Gabriel’s thigh to stop him hitting the table with how much his leg is fidgeting with pent up energy.

At how he relaxes underneath her touch she wishes that she’d been brave enough to touch like that years ago. There’s innumerable conference calls it could have been helpful in.

What feels like an eternity later they’re finally able to head upstairs to discuss Adrien’s problem in more depth.

The moment the close the door to the room Gabriel turns round on Adrien, “What sort of problem?”

She grabs him, and he softens at her silent complaint and lets Adrien speak when he’s ready to.

“So.” Adrien starts. “I _may_ have tried on the brooches to talk to your Kwamis? And by the why I can’t believe you abused Nooroo like that. But um, Ladybug’s the Guardian now? And apparently that means she can tell when they change ownership? And I kind of panicked when I got her message because what am I even supposed to say to that but also I can’t just leave her worried? And I told her I had them?”

“What?” She manages to get out past the lump in her throat, “What did you tell her?”

“I literally just said that was me, and I had the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses and then I panicked and ended the message?”

Gabriel turns to look at her, “I thought you said school would have a positive effect on his social interactions with his peer group.”

“ _Father._ ” Adrien complains. “Really not the relevant point here.”

She can’t help but agree with him.

“You’re going to have to message her back, but you don’t have to tell her all of what happened then.” She says trying to shift their conversation onto a more productive ground, “The important thing is that you defeated Hawkmoth and Mayura, does it really matter _how_ actually that happened?”

“I guess.” Says Adrien, “I just, doesn’t that sound a little bit unlikely? The two of us have won against you lots, but we’re never really got anywhere near taking your Miraculouses and now I’m supposed to have defeated both of you?”

“Maybe you didn’t.” Gabriel offers, “Maybe you saw an Akuma and followed it to find it’s victim and instead it lead you to the Peacock and Butterfly lying abandoned.”

She thinks she must look as thrown as Adrien does.

“Do Akumas even work like that?” Adrien asks.

“I don’t know.” Gabriel shrugs, “I’d have to research it more, and I can’t, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

The two of them stare at him in equal disbelief.

“What?” He says, “I _did_ consider ways I could give the things up if I had to. I wasn’t just going to give it to anyone.”

“I’m really glad to hear that.” Adrien says, “But Ladybug has the Miracle Box. She could literally portal down here at any time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it turns out there's an outside world they can't actually just ignore?
> 
> (srsly I have no idea why this fic has got so long.)


	11. Chapter 11

“Does Ladybug actually know where you are?” Nathalie asks eventually when she manages to push past her sheer panic and actually attempt to do something about it.

“I don’t know?” Adrien offers weakly.

“How can you not know?” snaps Gabriel making her wince. The situation’s too delicate to be antagonising Adrien right now.

“I didn’t _tell_ her, but if she could tell the Kwami’s have changed ownership I don’t know what else she could know.” Adrien admits.

“Then we still have time.” Gabriel says, “Guardian abilities or not. If a Guardian could locate any Miraculous we would have already been found out, and the two we had never would have been lost in the first place. More’s the pity.”

She wants to be reassured by the sense he’s speaking but, “And you didn’t tell her where you going to be, other than not in Paris?”

Adrien shakes his head, “No. She said if she needed me she’d contact me and ask, and then they’d open a portal to me.”

“That’s why you wanted to watch the akuma attacks.” She realises, “So you could see if you needed to transform.”

“Technically yeah,” Adrien says, “But it wasn’t like I could _not_ watch it. I needed to know she and my other friends were ok. Wasn’t it the same for you with Father?”

Gabriel’s looking at her in surprise, which is ridiculous, because he must have known she would.

“Yes. I suppose.” She admits, and tries to steer the conversation but to the matter in question. “And she definitely doesn’t know who you are?”

“No, we don’t know each other’s identities. Everyone knows that.”

“So you’re always said.” Gabriel says, “And despite the fact apparently I have no idea when you’re lying I do believe you when you say you don’t know who she is. But if it’s her job to manage who wields which Miraculous shouldn’t she know?”

Adrien looks thrown by the idea, sitting down in the chair behind him as if he’s been pushed. “I don’t know. She’s never _acted_ like she knows. No, I don’t think she can. She’s amazing in a lot of ways but I don’t think she’s _that_ good an actress”

“I hope not.” She agreed. In truth she wasn’t sure they could trust Adrien’s read on that. He wasn’t very much like Chat Noir after all. For all they knew Ladybug’s civilian personality was very different as well, and if she was already being a completely different person then hiding that you knew who someone was didn’t seem that much harder.

Her heart was slowly calming down as it got the message the issue wasn’t _quite_ as immediate as they’d feared, and Gabriel looks less tense as well.

Adrien though, still looks as on edge as he has all evening, “What do I _do_?”

She let go of Gabriel to crouch down by Adrien, trying to be as unthreatening as possible, “You’re going to have to transform again and see if she’s come back to you.”

“And if she has?”

“Then we’ll work out what you should say back to her that she’ll believe. It’ll be ok.”

* * *

It’s still odd to watch his son disappear in a flash of light and be replaced by Chat Noir. He’s tried to look for Chat Noir in Adrien these last few days but there’s barely anything he can recognise. Thinking back over the past and wondering how he’s missed it he actually thinks that the place where it’s easiest to see the superhero in his son is actually in his modelling work.

Right now though it’s very easy to see the Adrien in Chat Noir. He’s looking at this staff with the same expression that usually heralds Adrien being about to make a request that he full wells knows isn’t one he’s going to grant.

He wants to tell him to hurry up and get on with it but he does realise this isn’t the time to be hurrying even if he own nature is such that he just wants to get it done.

Then the staff rings and the boy drops it.

They’re all mesmerised by the ringing staff on the floor as if it’s some sort of poisonous snake, too afraid to move.

Nathalie puts her hand out to pick it up and he has to reach out and stop her. He can only assume she moved on some sort of instinct developed over years of work. Actually it’s probably his fault from the times he’s made her answer his mobile when he doesn’t want to talk.

“Adrien.” He says finally causing his son to unfreeze, “Pick it up. It’ll look worse if you don’t.”

Adrien puts on a determined face, which he usually sees just before Chat Noir launches a final attack, and picks the staff up sliding some of it upwards somehow and putting it to his ear.

“Hi my lady!” He squeaks.

Adrien has literally done voiceover work for an entire film, which is another thing he’s now wondering if his son secretly disliked, but regardless it means he should be a better actor than this. He _is_ a better actor than this.

“No I’m fine!” He says into the phone.

Even as someone who’s wrongly fallen for Nathalie’s protestations of the same many a time that sounded deeply unconvincing. This isn’t going to work. They’re going to have to do something else. Take all the Miraculous and throw them into the sea or leave them for random people to find or _something_ at least to distract Ladybug.

Adrien continues, “No, I’m not in any danger at all. I mean things might be a little delicate but,”

They can head a faint voice at the other end but neither he, nor Nathalie from her matched look of panic when he meets her eyes, can make out what its saying.

“No I’m not being held hostage by Hawkmoth and Mayura and being forced to trade their Miraculouses for mine, why would you think that?”

More indistinct talking.

“OK, I can see that my last message wasn’t great, but I didn’t mean to make you worry! I was in a hurry, and then I’ve been with my family since, and I transformed again the moment I got a chance.”

“My family? They’re fine.” Adrien pauses for a second, “Oh no they shouldn’t be looking for me now they think I’m…”

He gestures to the bedroom in an attempt to help Adrien, and only after once he’s done it does he realise it’s early for bed, but Adrien could just be in there doing anything. Other people can’t spend all their time with their families on holiday. Surely.

“In the shower.” Adrien somehow misinterprets him. Admittedly the bathroom is off the bedroom, and it might make more sense as an option but it doesn’t bode well for any future attempts to help him, “Yeah, no I do need to take one, but they’re only expecting me go to bed after so you’re not keeping me away from it or anything.”

He really hopes that wasn’t flirting.

“So. Yes. The Miraculouses.”

What he looks like he’s no idea but next to him Nathalie’s gone impossibly pale. She grips onto his hand so tightly he’s sure her nails are going to leave marks later.

He’d be tempted to offer his butterfly idea again but he’s not sure how he can mime that one handed, and clearly neither Adrien nor Nathalie had been impressed by it earlier. _He’d_ thought it had the benefit of making it very close this was a surrender while saving Adrien the trouble of having to explain how he didn’t know who they were.

“No, I um, found them.”

The relief that fills him can’t be described. Adrien _is_ going to try and keep them anonymous at least.

That’s something.

He might not be worthy of his son’s affection but he does have it, and Nathalie has it too.

Adrien’s _abilities_ to protect them are slightly more in doubt.

“No, there was no sign of Hawkmoth and Mayura at all. I just walked out and found them on my balcony on morning.” Adrien shrugs at them with his spare hand and with a sheepish expression on his face, “Yeah, I mean I’m pretty sure it was some sort of surrender.”

Nathalie pulls out her hand from his and starts frantically miming a writing a note.

“Well firstly, they did leave it for _me,_ and secondly there was a letter with it saying so.”

The indistinct voice at the other end of the phone rises in volume.

“Er, yeah I probably should of lead with that. I’m sort of thrown by the whole thing honestly?”

The last part sounded real at least. Probably because it was.

“Uh, what _did_ it say? I’ll um, just go get it for you.”

Adrien covers the microphone with his hand, and mouths “What did it say?”

He continues, “Yeah, I’m just getting it now, I hid it at the bottom of a drawer so my bo” Adrien must remember halfway through the sentence that not everyone was a bodyguard, “family didn’t find it.”

Nathalie meanwhile frantically thrusts the tablet they’d left on the table towards him, “write something.” She hisses

“Why me?” He whispers back

“You’re the monologue-er.”

Alright that’s possibly fair.

She gestures Adrien over while he frantically tries to work out what to write,

He only gets one line out before Adrien starts reading it.

“My respected adversary,” Adrien reads out, “Don’t worry Bugaboo, I’m sure he respects you too. No I don’t know why on earth they surrendered it to me not you. Maybe they’re less frightened of me? Which seems unfair since I’m destruction but I guess you’re the really one that defeats them them all the time? Yeah, I’m know I’m useful too but I can’t purify an akuma can I?”

He assumes the other side of the phone call is painfully saccharine. At least it gives him time to write something for Adrien to say.

“Actually.” Adrien says, and this time he actually does sound like he’s realised something, “I bet they left it with me because they knew everyone else is back in Paris right? I mean they know you’ve been fighting with the temporary heroes so who knows who you might have spying on your location. Whereas I’m the only hero here.”

They might yet get away with this.

He tries to focus on the letter. It would be easier to write this while transformed. He’s not in Hawkmoth’s headspace now.

“Oh right the letter.” His son says, “Right, um so it says, ‘I’m afraid I will have to deprive you of a final battle. Quite a catastrophe for you I’m sure.’” Adrien pauses, “I’m not sure if that was supposed to be a pun or not?”

He shrugs. Only sort of. It’s not like he’s had time to draft it.

“Ok, so then it continues, ‘Acquiring your Miraculous and Ladybug’s no longer seems a worthwhile goal to me. I will not attempt to explain my reasons why this is the case, as I do not believe you would credit them even if I did. Though I will say that your staunch defence of them has made this decision easier for me. To prove my sincerity I am returning the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. Our Kwamis will be able to vouch that we have both renounced them, but will not otherwise be able to identify us. It seems redundant to wish good luck to the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous and her” Adrien’s face twists, and his voice comes out at least an octave higher, “beloved’, I am so sorry Ladybug I have no idea why he wrote that, _I_ know you like someone else, I have no idea where he got such a crazy idea from.”

Dark Cupid for a start. Having created that akumisation twice now it does seem clear that the kiss cure does only work where there’s romantic affection, even if he’s not sure he can believe there’s that many instances of true love in Paris despite the City’s name.

Anyway it seemed like a good way to fluster Adrien which will at least give him a _true_ emotion to show Ladybug, and hopefully Ladybug will get flustered too. She might get annoyed when her partner isn’t paying attention to the fight, but the rest of the time he’s certain there’s a fondness there.

Adrien clearly disagrees, given the glare he’s levelling on him as he listens to Ladybug on the other phone line. Generally he’d tell him off for the lack of respect it shows but in fairness it might be somewhat justified this one time.

“Right, anyway so then it continues ‘but I do hope you are untroubled by any future threats. Please do not attempt to find us, so this may continue to be the case.”

Having reached the end of what he’s written he expects to Adrien to stop, but his son has a gleam in his eyes terrifyingly reminiscent of Emilie when she had one of her ideas and he continues, “As a further gesture of goodwill I will be making a large anonymous donation to the mental health charity set up for Akuma victims in the following days.”

He did not write that.

Nathalie’s looks down at the tablet in shock, and on confirming it’s Adrien’s addition stares at in his son in shock, and he vaguely thinks horror.

“Yeah they’re definitely the real Miraculouses” Adrien’s saying resolutely ignoring them, “I’ve spoken to the Kwamis, and besides you were able to tell they’d changed ownership right?”

“Um, no I don’t think you should come down here. I’ll be back in Paris pretty soon with them. Yeah, they’re perfectly safe. I could maybe convince my family to come back earlier if you want?”

Adrien frowns, “Wouldn’t telling you where I am endanger my civilian identity? Oh, yeah I guess that’s pretty moot now Hawkmoth already knows it. No idea how. I’ve been super careful about when I transform here.”

He makes a face like he’s eating cold soup. “OK, yeah I get that. I guess you have the right to know _that_ much. I’m in Cannes.”

He slides down his cane and destransforms. “I think that went well.”

“Adrien.” Nathalie says, “We’re going to have to launder that money _._ We get _audited._ ”

“I don’t think Adrien was planning for us to pay it from the company.” He reassures her.

“Then they can trace it electronically back to you.” She replies, “Why on earth did you add that?”

“But it was your idea,” Adrien says looking confused.

He’d certainly not heard this.

“To donate as _Gabriel Agreste,_ or maybe _Gabriel_ the company, as a former akuma victim himself, not as _Hawkmoth._ ”

“Oh.”

He lays a comforting hand on Nathalie’s arm. He’s not happy about it, and it’s exactly the sort of initiative he doesn’t like that Adrien’s beginning to show, but they’re committed now, and he realises if that’s all his has to pay for what he’s done he’s actually getting off pretty lightly.

“We’ll find a way. Use some of the money in the overseas investment vehicles.”

“And run it through a few shell companies?” Nathalie asked, “It’s still going to be risky.”

“The same contacts I used for my other purchases that needed to be kept under the table should work.”

“What _other_ purchases _?_ ” Adrien says.

Nathalie sighs, “The house defence system might be found a bit overzealous by the state.”

Adrien blinks. “I don’t think I want to know what that means.”

“Why did you tell her we are?”

“I had to give her something. She wanted to come down and collect them immediately, and she _is_ the Guardian now. She does have that right. We compromised by just telling her that. And while we’re asking things, why did you call me her beloved?”

He shrugs. His sympathy for Adrien is gone now his son’s decided to throw away a chunk of his money, “I thought it would distract her.”

“ _Distract her-_ It certainly distracted _me._ Especially now I'm confused about who I like!”

“Look,” Nathalie breaks in, “I think we can all say that could have gone far worse. We should all sleep on it and try to move forward.”

* * *

Gabriel walks Adrien back to his room, and she refrains from pointing out that Chat Noir could probably protect himself on a walk though a hotel corridor.

They need to rebuild a relationship between themselves alone, and besides they _do_ need to talk to the Kwamis and make sure they won’t talk. She doesn’t think they can give away the identities of former holders but they need to be sure.

She sits and waits, trying to process what actually happened. Their Miraculouses have been promised to Ladybug. Ladybug knows where in France they are. Gabriel didn't contest any of that.

Nothing's actually over until they get back to Paris and she's dreading that for _so_ many reasons, but this feels final in a way surrendering then to Adrien hadn't.

Hawkmoth and Mayura are officially over and Adrien’s still the only one to know who they are.

She's not sure what to do so that.

It should be a cause for celebration but for some reason it just feels disconcerting.

This is a different world she's in now.

“God I think I’m still shaking.” She admits to Gabriel once he gets back.

“I feel odd myself.” He says.

“So, that’s it? It _is_ all actually over?”

“He still has to give them to her in person, but yes it seems so.”

She leans back in the chair. “I never thought I'd see this day.”

“Me neither. Certainly I didn't ever imagine this.”

That makes her roll her head over to look at him. “But, you’re not,” she searches for a safe word, “dissatisfied in how it turned out?”

“No I'm certainly not dissatisfied. Not with what I've got out of it.”

He leans down over her so he can give her a long slow deep kiss. If the angle causes him any discomfort he doesn't admit it.

By they time he pulls away her brain's capacity for rational thought is strongly reduced but she manages to say, “I hope I'm not the only thing you’re referring to.”

Alone she can't be sure she'll be enough. That he won’t regret all this one day and what that might cause him to do. He _had_ chosen her before they had any idea about Adrien but it has been supposed to be a slow adjustment, one she'd help him through. Not an immediate permanent renunciation of the Butterfly Miraculous.

He pouts, perching on the side of her armchair, “Are you saying I don’t have you?”

“That's not what I mean.”

At his continued plaintive face, she rolls her eyes and stands up, turning so they’re face to face once he follows her.

She reaches out to his face with one hand, “You know you have me.”

“Good.” He says pulling her closer until their bodies are flush, and she’s forced to look up at him. “And that is a very big benefit of how things have turned out, but do you know what’s more important?”

“No?” She replies truly unsure where he’s going to take this. 

“That you’re alive, and you’re going to be well. Anything else isn’t acceptable.”

She looks away unable to meet the earnestness in his eyes.

“And, crazy as this whole situation is, I think you might just have saved my relationship with my son.”

“I’m not sure I can take the credit for that.”

“If you’d not made a version of me that could be enough for him, I’d never have believed I could be. And if I hadn’t, well, I’m starting to think that even if I’d won and brought his mother back Adrien would never have forgiven me. I’d never forgiven _myself_ if you’d been the cost of that.”

“Gabriel.” She exhales more than says.

Usually she knows exactly what Gabriel needs, or at least the best thing she can give him in the circumstances, but in response to that that piece of bared emotion she’s at a loss at how to respond.

He doesn’t seem bothered by her silence. One of his hands starts rubs soothing circles against her back, and she lets herself relax into him, head lying on his shoulder. Slowly the adrenaline she's been running on all evening start's to seep out.

Here, wrapped in him like this it seems clear, “We’ve both been luckier than we deserve.”

“Me more than you.” He says

“Most of the world would disagree.”

“Most of the world are idiots.”

She can’t help but smile at that and pulls his head down to kiss him again.

She means it as a thank you, and I’m alive and I love you, and it _is,_ but neither of them seem in the mood to keep it there.

One of his hands is still sprawled across her back, the other having migrated to her hip, and suddenly the barrier of her dress between them seems like an annoyance and she has to let go of him to fumble with the zip on the side of the dress.

He makes a dissatisfied noise at the loss against her lips until she guides his hand against the gaping side of the dress and he understands what she's looking for.

“Sofa?” He offers breathlessly when they break away.

“Bed.” She counters, despite how the shape of the seat would better suit her purposes. “ _Adrien_ sits on the sofa.”

“Good point.”

It would make more sense to let go of each other on the way there but neither of them seem capable of fully letting go of the other. Reminding themselves with their hands and their mouths that the other is there and alive, and they’re going to get away with this seems much more important than rushing to get there.

* * *

Feeling how Nathalie’s gently and carefully let herself fall forward into his chest and arms after their mutual completion he’s certain that he’s _definitely_ the lucky one.

He presses a kiss against her sweat-soaked hair, and she nuzzles against him.

Thank god they'd built up to this or it would have gone embarrassingly quickly for him.

He _is_ going to have to convince her to let him do more of the work though. He’s perfectly capable and he hasn’t cracked a rib whatever she keeps saying. Not that he doesn’t enjoy her concern, or that he didn’t enjoy this but he wants to show her more actively that it’s not just his hands he can make her unravel with.

“Do you want to lie down?’ he offers. Not that he dislikes the position he's in, but sat upright against the headboard isn't ideal if they are actually going to sleep.

“Hmm, I guess we should.” She says sounding half asleep already.

She pulls herself off him and as some evidence of their activities rubs off on his thigh he suddenly realises what neither of them had asked.

Not that he needed to, but had _she_ known that? She was working for him then he thinks but it’s not the sort of thing he’d have mentioned to her.

Has he brought her into this relationship even more unfairly than he'd thought?

He lies down next to her, he owes it to meet her eyes for this conversation, “Nathalie?”

She hums in acknowledgement, and turns her head to look at him.

“We, that is you didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, and we didn't need to, but I don't know if you know but,”

“Gabriel.” She stops him. “I know you had a vasectomy when you and Emilie decided you two were certain you didn't want more children. I booked the appointment.”

“You did? I thought Emilie,”

“I think _you_ were meant to do it. She had me do it when she got impatient.”

“And it’s not a problem for you?”

“I don't think you understand how freeing it is not to have to worry about birth control.”

“But you don’t want children?” He suddenly realises that’s he’s being presumptuous this early in their relationship but, “Later I mean?”

“Later? How young do you think I am? If I wanted one I wouldn't have any time to be putting it off.”

“But you don't?”

“Have I ever struck you as maternal?”

Yes actually. Quite often. She must have no idea how her concern for Adrien looks, because it's clearly not the answer she's looking for.

“Did you ever want more?” She asks, rolling over to fully face him.

“I’d have liked a girl maybe,” He says, staunchly ignoring the image of a mini-Nathalie the words conjure up, “but you can't control that.”

“You'll have to settle for a daughter-in-law I think.”

“Not for at least a decade I hope.” He sighs, “I regretted not giving Adrien a sibling sometimes, he'd have liked a playmate I think, but it’s too late for that now.”

“He’s got friends now. He’s happy with that.”

Whatever she sees in his eyes she pulls him back into another kiss and it’s impossible to dwell on past regrets when he’s got her like this in the here and now.

* * *

Her nice slow awakening while she lies against Gabriel comfortably sated is ruined when someone decides to thump at the entrance door.

Gabriel seems even less awake than she is so she forces herself out of bed and puts on a bathrobe wondering _who_ one earth could possibly at the door.

She opens it to Adrien looking absolutely frantic. “Ladybug’s in my room!”

It is far too early in the morning for this and she says that as someone who’s driven Gabriel to airports at various unholy hours of the day.

She pulls him in, “Sit down and wait here, I’m getting your father.”

Thankfully she doesn’t need to, he’s already got up to follow her, and is just leaving the bedroom.

He catches sight of Adrien, “What’s happened?”

“Apparently Ladybug’s in his room.”

“He’s not allowed girls in his bedroom.”

“I didn’t invite her!” Adrien says, “She just turned up this morning. Though why Nino asked what my room number was randomly last night does make more sense now.”

She is 99% sure Nino is the boy with the obnoxious headphones, which only makes everything even more confusing, “ _Nino’s_ Ladybug?”

“What. No. Why. You _have_ seen Ladybug right? And Nino? No-one’s Miraculous changes their whole appearance like that.”

“How could I know that? I don’t have blue skin, or pink eyes, or short hair, or perfect vision.” Nor does she usually wear a push-up bra to work but she’s not pointing that out to him. Hopefully he’s never noticed the difference.

“Yeah, I don’t know why your transformation is like that, but that is still not the same thing as you’re implying.”

“What’s Nino got to do with this conversation at all then?” Gabriel asks.

“So, he’s dating Alya, and she’s the Ladyblogger, and Ladybug talks to her so _obviously_ she asked Alya for help and she asked Nino.”

That does not seem at all obvious to Nathalie.

“So, she found out where you were at she came down to collect the two Miraculouses sooner.” Gabriel says, “I guess it’s concerning she ignored your reassurances, but I don’t see that we necessarily have a problem.”

“She doesn’t know I’m Char Noir!”

She looks over to Gabriel to see if this makes any more sense to him, but while it might not be clear to an outsider, it’s clear to her that he’s equally dumbfounded.”

“So, let me get this straight,” She says, “Ladybug _didn’t_ appear in Chat Noir’s room to collect the Butterfly and the Peacock. Instead Ladybug appeared in _Adrien Agreste’s_ room to, what exactly?”

“Has this been happening at home?” Gabriel frowns.

“No!” Adrien yelps, “OK like, once or twice maybe but nothing like you’re implying. She offered to make me a temporary miraculous holder once.”

“How you’d refuse that?” She asks.

“I didn’t.” He admits guiltily.

“How’d that do?” Gabriel asks.

“Badly.” He says flatly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Not for the first time she wonders how exactly they kept losing to these teenagers. His reaction is more than embarrassment too and, she's also reminded that they'd _hurt_ Adrien it's easy to forget that when Ladybug makes it all like it's never happened.

“So _why's_ she here now then?” She asks instead.

“She’s worried about me. Chat-me. She’s still not convinced that you two haven’t captured me, or brainwashed me or something.”

“But what’s that got to do with you?”

“She’s offered me another Miraculous to help her go looking for Chat.”

She still wants to know _why Adrien,_ but apparently if Ladybug’s mixing in his circles, and she knows he’s here already rather than taking someone down with her from Paris it does make sense. Either that or she’s a fan trying to get close to him, which would be ironic.

“And?” Gabriel asks.

“I said I would but you were waiting for me for breakfast,

“And she’s upstairs alone now?” Nathalie asks.

“Gorilla’s there still. That was kind of awkward actually. I don’t think she was expecting anyone else to be there, and she tried to swear him to secrecy about her presence.”

That must have been fun for him. No doubt Adrien and Ladybug were excruciating to watch.

“OK,” she starts thinking rapidly, “You go back up there as Chat Noir and give her the Miraculouses while “Adrien” is down at breakfast.”

“Or he could just tell her he’s Chat Noir.” Gabriel says, “Keeping it a secret was supposed to protect them from _us._ That’s not an issue now.”

“I can’t just tell her that _now._ ” Adrien says, “How would I explain why I’m suddenly admitting it?”

“Because there’s no Hawkmoth and Mayura anymore obviously.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.” She points out, “If Ladybug is suspicious Chat Noir is hiding something then we’re obvious candidates for him to protect.”

“Alright. So we do your plan.”

Adrien’s rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, “The Butterfly and the Peacock are in the safe, I can’t get them without her seeing me.”

She stifles the temptation to scream.

“So you _don’t_ give them to her, but you go up anyway and agree to give them to her later, at some arranged place.”

“Will she agree to that? What if she thinks it’s a trap?”

“Let her pick the place and time then, tell her to bring reinforcements, do whatever you have to do.”

“OK.” Says Adrien, “I’m going to do it. Should I come back here after then or?”

“Yes, that’s probably best.”

* * *

It’s a measure of what their lives have turned into he supposes that not only is it turning out that it would be helpful for more than one of them to have a doppelganger but that Adrien in fact already has one and it’s of no use whatsoever right now. He can’t believe he’s thinking this given that he’s only every found their resemblance an annoyance but Felix would actually be _really_ helpful right now.

There is of course an alternative but even if Adrien would allow them the Peacock Miraculous back until the handover he’s _not_ putting Nathalie through the stress of creating a copy of someone again, and once Ladybug had the Miraculous there’d be no way to revoke the amok and he’s certainly not going to acquire a second child that way.

“So, me and Ladybug are going to meet on the roof later, and I’ve also promised that I’m going to watch as Aspik and invoke second chance if anything goes wrong, so I guess I’ll just get in position as him, get out of sight, detransform, then transform into Chat Noir and hopefully she won’t notice me doing that?”

It’s not the worse plan he’s ever been involved in but there’s just so many ways it could go wrong, and the worse of it is that he can’t even be a participant _at_ all. That it’s all out of his hands is hard to accept when his instincts are screaming at him to take control of the situation.

“Where does she think you are now?” Nathalie asks.

“I said I had to go explain to you that I’d met a friend and get permission to hang out, and she said that was fine. She needed to talk to her Kwami about it anyway. We’ve going to meet back in the room in like twenty minutes, and then go scope out the roof and check for signs of Chat Noir or Hawkmoth and Mayura.”

For a moment he wants to point out that Adrien shouldn’t assume he has permission to go out, and Ladybug shouldn’t assume Adrien has permission to go out either, but he does actually _need_ them to go in this scenario so he just about manages to hold it in.

“Don’t you need to get back upstairs?” He asks instead. “You haven’t much time to get everything out of the space without her seeing.”

Adrien’s eyes widen, “You’re right!” and he runs out of the room without even a goodbye.

“Do we need to work on his manners?” He asks Nathalie.

“I think in the circumstances he can probably be forgiven.” She points out, “If it’s an ongoing thing we can revisit it later.”

She takes his hand and gives it at reassuring squeeze, “We’re not any worse off than we were last night. Adrien can pull this off. He’s been fooling _us_ for over a year. He can do this.”

“I just don’t like not knowing.”

“Me neither” She says, “But we can’t be up on that roof untransformed.”

There’s got to be some way at least they can watch, and his mind buzzes with possibilities. “Could we buy binoculars anywhere nearby?”

“Um, maybe.” Nathalie says whipping her phone out, “I’m sure there’s some sort of sporting goods shop around. I’m not sure we’ll be able to see them from the ground though, the angle won’t work.”

“We’ll work something out.” He says. “Come on, let’s head out. We don’t want to look like we’re hiding inside.”

She follows him out. Probably she’s humouring him but he’s sure that she must be as nervous about this as he is. If they’re just distracting themselves with this then at least that’s better than sitting around worrying.

They’ve just got out to the street, and he’s waiting for Nathalie to tell him which way to head when he notices a girl sat on one of the planters on the other side of the street talking on her phone, while eating a crepe.

A _familiar_ girl.

He nudges Nathalie, “Isn’t that the girl Adrien likes?”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?” She looks up, “I think it is. First Ladybug. Now her. Are we going to be deluged by Adrien’s love interests? Or his classmates I guess.”

“You think Ladybug might be a classmate?”

“Given the last few days? I wouldn’t put it past the universe. Everything does seem clustered around him. Look at Chloé Bourgeois.”

“True.”

He stares a little while longer. It also looks like she’s talking to the flowers she’s sat next to but maybe she’s just trying to create privacy for herself while she’s on the phone. He can understand that. Thank goodness he only has Nathalie around when he’s on the phone. He only wants to be seen by the audience he’s actually aiming for.

“Did you want to say hello?” Nathalie asks.

“Should we?”

“I don’t know. It seems like the sort of thing people do. If Adrien is interested in her shouldn’t we be trying to find out about her?”

He supposes they should though he’d prefer to do it without having to actually talk to her. He decides they’ll cross the road, and then if she’s done on the phone they can speak to her.

The girl clocks them before they can say anything and drops her phone in panic.

Nathalie bends down to pick it up, “Sorry, we didn’t mean to you to startle you.”

“That’s ok.” The girl says, “I’m just really clumsy.”

An awkward silence descends.

Nathalie powers through it, “You’re in Adrien’s class aren’t you? Are you on holiday here too?”

“Um,” The girl blinks, “Y-yes, I’m a school with Adrien. I’m just down for the day though.”

Suddenly an absolutely a brilliant idea strikes him. It will give Adrien a taste of his own medicine while looking like he’s doing something nice that can’t be criticised. And, it can only look less like they’re aware anything is about to go on.

“Where are your parents? Would you like to join us for lunch later?”

“My” The girl stutters, “I mean, thank you for inviting me Mr Agreste but I really wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It wouldn’t be any imposition. I’m sure Adrien would be delighted to see you.”

“If you’re sure.” She bites her lip, “I’d love to join you but I’ve some things to do first.”

“Shall we say, Nathalie does 1pm work?”

“It should do.” She confirms.

“1pm here then.”

Nathalie looked at him in question as they walked away.

“I can be nice to Adrien.” He defended. 

“Was that what that was?”

He slings his arm over her shoulders, “He said he _wanted_ to spend more time with his friends didn’t he.”

“Maybe not just after one of what’s likely to be the most fraught experiences of his life.” She pointed out.

She might not be wrong there, but he’s still sticking to the rest of his points being good ones even if he’s failed in coming off as altruistically to her as he’d hoped.

* * *

Nathalie’s standing on the breakwater separating the old port from the sea with binoculars held up to her eyes. This wouldn’t be odd at all if she was facing out to sea, or even looking into the marina.

Unfortunately she’s looking back at the hotel, and she feels like her mind is all out of excuses if anyone asks. Maybe they should have dressed up as someone else or something. That would only look worse if they were discovered though. As if they were trying to hide what they were doing.

Or more prosaically she supposes their relationship. Which would make them look stupid after what they’ve already done in public, and besides she doesn’t want to pretend they’re hiding it. Not when Gabriel is so bizarrely happy to shout it to the world. Coming from a man like him who likes to control the media story about his life and family the fact he’s showing it off like this is practically a love declaration.

She wonders if he knows that.

Then she goes back to playing with the focus. “She’s there. I don’t see him.”

“Let me look,” Gabriel says from where he’s standing behind her.

She passes him the binoculars.

“I can’t believe it’s all coming to an end on a random hotel roof miles away from Paris.” He says.

“What were you imagining? The house? Or the Eiffel Tower or something?”

Either would suit his sense of the dramatic. Though she’s often imagined that final fight in front of Emilie’s coffin so maybe she’s not much better.

“Both of them have crossed my mind yes. Maybe I should have told him to suggest the church roof or something instead. It _would_ be more fitting.”

That feels like an odd thing to say, unless Gabriel’s sharing her desire for some sort of penance, “Why?”

“Giving it to Our Lady’s Bug at our Our Lady’s?”

“Oh. Is that where the English name comes from?” She should have guessed it would be some sort of wordplay.

Gabriel doesn't answer her immediately then he says, “Ah, he’s just jumped in.”

“ _And?”_

“And they’re talking.”

“Gabriel Agreste, what on earth are you doing?” a voice comes from one of the boats.

Apparently all of Paris has come down to join them after all. And _of course_ it would be Audrey Bourgeois of all people. Nathalie can only be glad she’s never had to directly work for her. She’s heard horror stories from her assistants that made working for Gabriel even while being Mayura sound like a piece of cake.

The women’s got her job for a reason, and Nathalie will give her that she’s brilliant at finding and showcasing young talent but even with the consequences she’s always going to treasure getting to turf her out of the front row secure in the knowledge she wouldn’t be fired for it.

Gabriel’s stiffened beside her, but he passes her the binoculars and says, “Let me know if anything goes wrong.”

What they can do if something does she has no idea unless he’s proposing they steal the yacht Audrey’s on and into the ocean abandoning Adrien which is clearly not an option. 

Still she’s not going to complain about not having to be the one dealing with Audrey.

“Adrien’s on a date.” Gabriel says, “For some reason he didn’t want us around.”

“You’re such a helicopter parent. You and Emilie never could leave the child-rearing to the professionals like the rest of us could you?”

Nathalie might not have much idea what good parenting is but she’s pretty sure that Audrey’s isn’t it either, much as she might have a point if they were telling the truth about it right now. She swears she’s heard her call her daughter by the wrong name before.

She tries to ignore their conversation, which mainly seems to consist of Audrey trying to convince Gabriel to join her on the boat while being disparaging to her, as she focuses on Adrien who seems to be having a very animated conversation with Ladybug, but then they both frustratingly disappear behind a ventilation tube.

Between that and Gabriel’s putting an arm round her waist and pulling her into him it's not easy to keep tuning out Gabriel and Audrey.

“Nathalie's my partner.”

“Well she can come too if she must.”

She can feel him considering it. “When are you sailing?”

“2pm.”

“We’ve a lunch engagement. We’ll have to cry off.”

She owes Marinette Dupain-Cheng big time. Just because she enjoys Gabriel showing her off as his partner doesn’t mean she's up to go to the sort of yacht party Audrey’s attending.

“But you won't blow me off in Paris?”

“I'll give you an interview in Paris. Chloé can interview Adrien too.”

“I'll take you up on that if she does it too.”

Suddenly Adrien and Ladybug come back into view. They’re hugging she thinks.

“They’re hugging.” She tells Gabriel.

His grip on her waist tightens. “Nathalie will you do the interview?”

“Whatever you want.” She says, her eyes still stuck on Ladybug and Adrien.”

“We’ll do it.” Gabriel says.

* * *

Adrien is almost vibrating when they get back into the room.

“ _Where_ were you?”

“I texted you that we were on our way back.” Nathalie tries to defend them.

“Why were you even out? You never go out.”

“Not by choice.” He admits. “We run into Audrey. You’re doing an interview when we get back.”

“I’m _what?_ ”

“With Chloé. About modelling. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

The multiple emotions that flash through Adrien’s face would be impossible to work out _with_ the Butterfly Miraculous. Never mind without it.

“Yeah, I can probably handle that.” Adrien says. “So, I’m guessing you guys probably worked out everything went ok?”

“We guessed.” He says carefully omitted that they’d assumed the hugging was a good sign. “So she didn’t suspect anything?”

“No! It all went fine.”

There’s a falsity to Adrien’s tone but he doesn’t think his son is capable of pretending everything’s ok while the police make their way to their door, so more likely it’s just embarrassment and despite the temptation there’s no good reason to go prodding at that.

After all Adrien could still confess everything to Ladybug if he wanted to.

“So it’s done.” He says as much to confirm it to himself as for anything else. It’s strange having the end of his time as Hawkmoth taken completely out of his hands, and even honestly out of his sight.

“It’s done.” Adrien nods, and his relief is palpable.

Nathalie smiles, “Thank you Adrien. For everything.”

Looking between his son and Nathalie he can’t regret giving it up at all. He knows that total lack of guilt won’t last when they get back to Paris and he has to confront Emilie’s body but that doesn’t change his conviction that this _was_ the right choice.

Maybe if he’d acted differently at the start, had confessed to Adrien and asked the heroes for help there might have been another way forward, but Adrien hasn’t mentioned anything, and then he wouldn’t have Nathalie and the idea of that makes him uncomfortable.

“Yes, thank you. I know this was hard for you.” He might not share Adrien’s moral qualms but he knows they exist, and he certainly knows the discomfort that comes with doing something you know would hurt the woman you care for if she knew.

Adrien looks sheepish, “It probably doesn’t make me a very good hero, but you’re my family, and we’re all going to be ok now right?”

The answer Adrien’s looking for is yes. He wants to say yes. He wants to make that their reality but this past year has made it so very clear how life doesn’t make it easy to hold to promises you make the people you love.

“That’s what we all want.” He says instead, squeezing Adrien’s shoulder.

Nathalie eyes might his over Adrien’s head, and she indicates downwards at his son. He can’t quite work out what she’s telling him today until she puts an arm around Adrien herself and he figures out her intentions, and follows her into the group hug.

“We met one of your classmates while we were out too.”

“You did?” Adrien asks.

“I invited her to lunch with us.”

“That’s, That’s great.” Adrien says, “Wow, um, which one?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“ _Marinette?”_ Adrien pulls away blushing, “Do I look ok? Do I need to get changed? What do I do? How I am supposed to act now I know I might like her?”

Gabriel doesn’t think there’s any might in it. Once again he wants to know when Adrien got permission to grow up this fast. _He_ doesn’t remember dating at that age. Though that would have included any potential girlfriend being exposed to his father which-no.

But Adrien’s proven he’s capable of keeping life-changing secrets from them for months. Admittedly his attention had been rather distracted from his son’s whereabouts during Akuma attacks which feels distressingly like a metaphor for the whole sorry situation, but it seems like it might be better to have Adrien’s romantic endeavours out in the open where he can control then than having him hide them from them.

“I never had the impression you had any issues with being around a girl you liked as Chat Noir.” He says.

“That’s as Chat Noir. That’s different.”

He wants to disagree then he remembers how Hawkmoth had interacted with Mayura compared to how as Gabriel he’d acted with Nathalie, and maybe he doesn’t really have any ground to stand on.

* * *

This is far more painful than Nathalie could have imagined. If Adrien and Marinette manage to get a full sentence out between them without stammering it’s going to be an achievement.

She’s never seen Adrien like this before. He’s been nervous before approaching his father certainly but she’s never seen him ever react to anyone like this.

Marinette herself she doesn’t know well enough to know if this is normal but if this is what their schoolfriends have to sit through everyday she’s almost surprised they have friends.

It’s unbearable.

She tries to ask an innocuous question about what brought her down here for the day and, the girl knocks her bag off the side of her chair in her fidgetiness and pales when it hits the ground with a strangely large clang.

“Nothing’s broken is it?” She tries to kindly enquire when Marinette picks it back up but the girl shakes her head frantically.

“No, I’m should everything’s fine. You shouldn’t worry. I’ll look at home.”

“How are things at home?” Adrien says looking proud of himself for finally managing to say something reasonable.

“Fine, good,” Marinette starts and then the two teenagers _finally_ manage some actual conversation about their mutual friends, and what they’ve been up to.

Gabriel damn him seems _amused_ by the whole thing. He clearly has a much higher threshold for embarrassment than she has. Though she can’t say she’s surprised that he hasn’t tried to intervene in the conversation to improve it like she has. That’s not one of his talents.

Eventually they get to the end of the meal, and Marinette thanks them for it, and tries to give her excuses to leave.

“Do you have a train to catch?” She asks.

Marinette looks bizzarely grateful, “Yes. A train. I do. That’s why I have to go now. Thank you again for the meal Mr Agreste.”

“I’ll see you in Paris though?” Adrien says, grabbing for her hand

“Yes,” Marinette replies her eyes fixed on their joined hands, “I’ll see you in Paris.”

“So,” Gabriel asks once the girl’s left, “It’s Miss Dupain-Cheng rather than Ladybug is it?”

Adrien groans and buries his head in his arms on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end is in sight guys!!!
> 
> _______
> 
> Also, have some cut dialogue b/c I was annoyed at work and used the excuse of dealing with a French tax return for checking that the following did make sense.
> 
> "You know I am grateful for you Nathalie. Even if you conspire with my son to throw away chunks of my money!"
> 
> "In a tax deductible way! I had to offer Adrien something to assuage his doubts about letting us go!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys I lied in the chapter numbering   
> (a.k.a the author really should do a plan)

Gabriel is, he thinks, starting to see the point of holidays.

This still isn’t what he would have chosen to do with his time, though the view is certainly a point in its favour, and he still finds himself getting restless when he’s just supposed to be lying there relaxing to the extent that Nathalie had got fed up the other day and given him the tablet and told him to sketch on it, but sometimes like right now watching Adrien and Nathalie together it all seems worthwhile.

He hasn’t managed to get a photo with Adrien like his son had taken with the sentimonster but he tries to push his impatience down. It had been different then. Adrien hadn’t know the truth about Hawkmoth, he hadn’t known the truth about his mother. The sentimonster had had an easier scenario to navigate than he has now.

But he thinks they can get there. Eventually. Maybe not this holiday but perhaps on the next. This is something he’s _not_ going to give up at, and he’s got a lot of determination to spare right now. He’s got Nathalie too, and he knows she’s as committed to this as he is.

* * *

Adrien frowns at his phone.

“Is something wrong?” She asks.

“Nino wants to know if my father’s been replaced by a clone.” Adrien says, “I’m not sure how to respond to that.”

A few days ago that might have been distressingly true.

“I haven’t been.” Gabriel says rather unhelpfully, “Not any longer thankfully.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to say that.” Adrien says.

She doesn’t know his friend and his relationship with Adrien well enough to know what he _should_ say though so she just offers, “Just tell him he’s turned over a new leaf.”

Both of them look at her sceptically. That feels a bit unfair. Really the cliché undersells what Gabriel’s doing.

“I’ll think of something else to say.” Adrien says.

* * *

Adrien’s smilingly in amusement at them and he isn’t able to resist the urge, suggesting “We should take a photo.”

Adrien and Nathalie look at him as if he’s being ridiculous. Clearly he’s pushed too far too early. 

“Or we could do what you want?” He offers instead.

“Actually.” Says Adrien. “Maybe I _should_ take a photo of you and Nathalie. For Instagram. I need to release some sort of statement.”

“What do you mean you need to?” Nathalie asks.

Adrien grimaces, “There’s been a lot of comments about you two recently.”

He probably should have expected that. “Don’t you have someone in the company moderating those?”

“Technically?” Adrien says, “But I still get the notifications.”

“Ok,” Nathalie says, “We’re fixing that when we get back. You shouldn’t need to deal with that.”

On that they’re in full agreement.

It turns out that when it comes to posing for one there’s not so much.

Adrien seems uncomfortable with their disagreement and tries to smooth things over. “I’m sure I already have something suitable.”

He gives in to Nathalie because she deserves it but he can only hope Adrien isn’t planning to post one of her and the sentimonster. That would undermine the whole post even if the three of them would be the only ones who would know it.

* * *

Given how many years she’s survived walking, and running when necessary, in heels she’s going to be extremely upset if she manages to twist her ankle in this game of beach volleyball Adrien’s dragged her into.

She’s not sure this game really works with three people either.

The only upside is that the physical activity does make it clear that she is improving. Before even with her Miraculous fixed it had felt like she’d just plateaued. She’d stopped getting worse but she wasn’t healing.

Now she _is._ She’d used to go to the gym regularly until it had got too bad, and while she can tell she’s not back to where she was before, she’s also definitely better than she had been. She hadn’t had the energy for this sort of thing even fortnight ago.

Gabriel might have been right about her needing rest after all much as she hates to admit it.

Or maybe it’s the lack of stress. There’s no more Hawkmoth, Adrien knows and he’s on his way to forgiving them, they’re barely working. There’s still so many problems to sort out but for now they all seem manageable. 

Though maybe it’s just the rose-tinted glasses she’s seeing the world through now she’s in this new relationship.

She’s brought down to earth when Adrien groans where the ball hits him in the side. She definitely hadn’t thrown it that hard.

“Ok. That’s it.” She says to Adrien. “You’re seeing a doctor. I should have forced the two of you to see one earlier.”

In her defence things had been just a little distracting.

“Won’t it look suspicious?” Adrien says. “The two of us going in? I don’t want them to think we had a fight.”

The silent “even though we did hangs between them.” They owe Adrien far too much for keeping their secret.

“Just take Adrien.” Gabriel says, “It’ll be easier to explain him than both of us.”

“What about you then?”

“I’ve told you I’m fine. I’ll see our own doctor in Paris when we get back if that makes you feel better.”

It doesn’t much but it does seem sensible and Gabriel does seem ok even if he’s also doing his level best to stop that being the case.

* * *

He should have gone with them. He’s not sure why he didn’t. It’s not as if it’s to keep their secret. There wouldn’t have been anything odd about Adrien going in with his father.

It might _actually_ look odder for him to have gone with just Nathalie.

Perhaps not to anyone in Paris who knows that she takes Adrien everywhere but they’re _not_ in Paris.

It just hadn’t occurred to him to go. He’d never gone to that sort of thing. _Emilie_ had always been the one to take him, and then once she couldn’t he’d just left it to his staff.

Nathalie isn’t just that anymore, and he doesn’t think that’s the function he let her take Adrien off with her in today, but that’s what he’d been doing wasn’t it?

And that’s ironic after all the years he and Emilie had thought themselves so superior to their friends and acquaintances who outsourced their childcare.

He’d been doing all this for Emilie, but in the process he’d made himself into someone she would have hated.

Stopping was the right choice. He’s _doing_ the right thing. He just has to not waste it.

Texting Nathalie to see how they’re doing makes him feel a little better, but he still can’t help like he’s already failing to fulfil the promise he had made Adrien and so soon after his son had lied to protect them as well.

It’s possible he’s failing Nathalie too. She’s not Emilie. While he knows she cares too much for Adrien to think his son is wholly _his_ responsibility she might prefer for them to handle these sorts of things together.

He has to do better. He _will_ do better. Somehow.

He can _ask_ them how he does better. Look at everything Adrien had spilled recently which he’d been utterly clueless about.

His phone goes and its Nathalie reassuring him that Adrien’s fine. Physically at least.

* * *

Since Emilie became ill she’s spent more time with Adrien without Gabriel than she’d ever spent with the two of them together.

_And yet._

It’s different now.

Taking Adrien to a class she’s signed him up to is one thing, and she can cope with that, but these times when Gabriel can’t be spared from work but she can because they’re not taking non-urgent calls anyway and most of that’s being dealt with by someone back in Paris, are another thing entirely.

Before Gabriel had arrived she’d been so focused on hiding what was actually happening from Adrien that the fact that she _was_ supposed to be just hanging out casually with Adrien instead of ferrying him from one place to another, or even making sure he was doing his schoolwork had eluded her.

Now though she doesn’t have any distraction from that, apart from the lingering concern of making sure he’s sure he’s made the right decision which is fairly easy to internalise given she’d want to make him happy anyway.

And of course there’s the very important fact that she’s dating his father now, which does mean their positions are rather different.

Adrien’s been very clear he’s delighted with that, and delighted to have her as part of his family, despite all the other revelations that have come out since their announcement but now that they’re not all running on sheer panicked adrenaline she has room for the more everyday concern that she has no idea what she’s doing with him.

Or what he _wants_ her to do with him. She doubts he wants a replacement mother, and they have too much history for that anyway. Building on the relationship they have already seems like the best idea but after years of trying to remember to _keep_ a professional distance between herself and Adrien it’s hard to pivot to the opposite.

She’d been better before when it was still a crisis. She’s _good_ at handling crisis. That’s part of why Gabriel had valued her so much at work, and then trusted her with the truth about Emilie and Hawkmoth she guesses.

Still they’re starting to fumble towards something she thinks. Adrien makes it feel easier with how accepting he’s been and how naturally he seems to have taken it. He doesn’t seem to share any of her struggles on this particular topic though his bodyguard had confided he’d been having nightmares at night.

Which does concern her. Adrien’s easygoing but maybe he’s too much so. Bizarrely she thinks he might have been more likely to admit any issues to her when she’d just been Gabriel’s assistant. She’d known he missed his father but she hadn’t realised how staved for affection he’d been and now he thinks _she’s_ a candidate to get that from, and he does seem to think that, she worries that he might hold back from saying anything that might jeopardise that.

* * *

At least now Adrien’s lied to Ladybug for them it’s a little easier to believe that he isn’t going to suddenly turn them in when he has to go attend the meetings Nathalie wasn’t able to rearrange.

It’s probably lucky people are used to him not attending in person, which really proves his point that it’s a much better way of doing things.

Working from somewhere that isn’t the house is odd, but he can only be glad for the rush of creativity he’d had before he came down here, and that thankfully those sketches had been uploaded to the cloud, so that he’s not totally behind when it comes to the preliminary discussions of the resort collection with the junior designers.

They’re productive enough but he _swears_ they all seem amused by something, enough so that he checks behind him more than once to ensure there’s nothing odd in the background, and his eyes keep getting drawn to his own face on the screen to ensure he looks normal.

Not that that looks quite usual, with a background that isn’t his house, and he’s been forced to sit instead of stand, as there was nowhere high enough to put the tablet he’s been forced to prop up on the desk with some books.

At one point when he’s convinced a few of them smile simultaneously he wishes Nathalie was here to ask if they can be messaging each other without him seeing, but unfortunately she’s downstairs with Adrien because her presence shouldn’t have been necessary for him just to ring in and they are trying to not leave Adrien alone unless he has an activity.

Letting him regret his decision is the last thing they want to do.

His inability to work out what’s going on makes him sterner in the meeting than he would have been but they’re all well-used to his moods and seem fairly unbothered. Maybe too unbothered really, but he can’t reprimand them without an actual complaint and unfortunately vaguely seeming amused doesn’t qualify.

“So we’ll leave it there for the day,” He says ready to bring it to a close, “Unless anyone has any other questions?”

There’s a chorus of mumbled no’s and shaken heads.

“Sir?” one of them calls out, “I just wanted to say congratulations.”

He gives his best quelling glance and the gratifyingly man quails.

“Thank you.” He says curtly and draws the meeting to a close.

He’d forgotten he’d used Nathalie as a model for that most recent batch.

Not that he doesn’t have plausible deniability; it’s not a drawing style with much in the way of facial features, and he hadn’t included the red streak in her hair, but of course they would have noticed the hair colour change from blonde to black partway through, and between of that and the media coverage they’re getting here, and her informing the company of their working patterns this week there’s only one conclusion they could have come to.

In fairness it’s the right conclusion, it’s just not how he’d have liked the topic to come up.

Or if it was he’d have liked to at least had _everything_ be Nathalie rather than an odd mix between her and Emilie making him look confused. Just because he had been doesn’t mean other people need to know that.

And he draws inspiration from people he has absolutely no romantic interest in them all the time, he doesn’t want them taking this to mean otherwise. He uses _Adrien_ for goodness sake.

The door opens and Nathalie enters, “You’re in a grump.”

“How’d you know that?”

She holds up her phone, “I was told you were mean to Marc.”

“I didn’t know you got company gossip.”

She shrugs. “Not much of it. I’m too defensive of you apparently. And I suppose I’ll get even less now, but I think they were trying to be nice and warn me.” She cocks her head, “Or get me to intervene. Hard to tell really.”

“He was presumptuous.” He justifies.

“Hmm.” Nathalie hums sitting on his lap, “I think he was trying to be nice. They’ve all been worried about you know.”

At this point he can admit that he must have seemed erratic to them with all the manoeuvring Nathalie had to do to hide his absence during Akuma attacks, and his total retreat to the house must have been difficult too even if it was mainly that they were, “Worried about their jobs.”

“That too.” She says, “But you know your industry, people enter it because they have a passion, a lot of the younger ones applied to _Gabriel_ because they admire you.”

“That’s depressing.” He says, twisting a length of her hair around his finger, “I suppose that means I actually should go back into putting some effort into it, especially with my new muse.”

“ _Gabriel.”_ She warns him.

“What? I didn’t say you had to officially model it.”

“Where you going to let me wear anything else?”

He pretends to consider it, “Probably not.”

She smirks, “Well they’d better be good then.”

“All my designs are good.”

“Even that dress that was basically a ball of feathers?”

“Hey,” He says slightly offended. “That was _art._ And I had more than one American pop star wear that.”

“I suppose that is an important side of the line,” She says, “but if you expect me to wear any of it there’ll have to be some things suitable for those of us who aren’t American pop stars. Or supermodels.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

She stands up much to his dislike, and tugs at his hand, “Come on, Adrien’s waiting downstairs.”

* * *

She wonders whether to forward the email to Gabriel or just _say_ about it to him. The former would be more professional but the latter would make it easier to discuss, and it might be more fun too.

It’s not as if she wouldn’t get his approval first and cc him in her response anyway.

Decision made she rolls over in the bed to face him. Gabriel’s scrolling through his own phone, but looks up as her movement.

“Payroll are very concerned about whether or not I’m on holiday.” She informs him.

He puts his phone down, before responding. “I thought you clarified with the company that we were both working part-time.”

“I did, but I guess it must be confusing for them. I’d better promise to spend them my hours before payday I suppose.” She pauses, wondering if she’s saying the right thing, “I’m not counting when you abandon me with Adrien as work by the way. I figure that’s part of a relationship right?”

“I don’t abandon you.”

She raises her eyebrows.

“You _know_ I’m not working by choice.”

“I do.” She admits. She brushes her fingers over the bristles of cropped hair at the side of his head, “though _that’s_ not something I’d ever thought I’d hear you say.”

Then again he’d said and done a lot of things she’d never expected recently.

Gabriel’s thoughts seem to be running along the same lines “It’s hardly the biggest change recently.”

That’s an understatement. “No it’s not.” She agrees.

“I am glad you’re spending time with Adrien as my,” his mouth twists, “girlfriend rather than my assistant though.”

She does feel a little hurt at that. Not much given where they are, and given how open he’s been about his feelings for her, and how obvious he’s made it that he wants a future for them, but a little.

“You don’t have to call me that if you’re not ready,” She says rather than admitting any of that.

“That’s really not the problem.” He says pulling her closer, “I want the whole world to know we’re committed to each other.”

“Then what is?”

He looks embarrassed, “It sounds childish. We’re not teenagers or twentysomethings.”

She wants to laugh. “Really? There was me trying not to push you, and you were thinking, what? It wasn’t serious enough?”

“Essentially.”

Wow. She never would have guessed that. “You really are committed to surprising me this week.”

“All good surprises though?”

“Obviously.” Surely he can’t have thought she’d have taken offense at the above though, “Though I might just not mention why the rest of the time I’m spending with you isn’t my job.”

“That might be for the best.” He says, “I’m almost surprised neither of us have had a worse email from the company about me taking advantage of you.”

So’s she. Though she’d assumed _she’d_ be the one in trouble. After all it’s not as if _Gabriel_ could fire Gabriel.

“I think maybe they just don’t want to replace me.” She points out, “Since you know, and you retreated to the house full time, I’m the only one they trust to make sure you do actually run the company.”

She worries that her oblique mention of Emilie’s illness and death will put a damper on the mood but Gabriel _seems_ alright, as he considers what she’s said. “You _are_ vitally important to me.”

“Maybe I won’t tell them that Mr Agreste has found alternative ways to compensate me for the rest of my time then.”

“Yes, that should probably stay between us.” He says but there’s a twinkle in his eyes, and his hand starts to move down her body making it quite clear he’s very keen to start actioning that right now. 

* * *

Nathalie’s frowning at her tablet. It’s not her angry frown, or her frazzled one, but that she’s just hit something where she needs him to make a decision.

She looks up right and calls him over right on cue but it’s still surprising to see this little routine and hear it end in “Gabriel?” instead of “Mr Agreste?”

It’s nice. He can count on one hand how many people call him by his first name, and he’s still not over the novelty of Nathalie being one of them. Every time he thinks he is she says it with a slightly new inflection and he’s reminded that he’s not alone anymore, that he has her now.

“Did you want to take the car back to Paris, or will one of us drive it back and the rest of us take the train?”

“Better to stick to the original plan. Adrien’s bodyguard can drive the car back and hopefully no one will ever realise it was here.”

That is true and that’s part of why he’s saying it but it also feels right for him to travel back with his family in the way he’d failed to travel down with them in a way it feels hard to articulate.

* * *

“So, did you want to do anything tonight?” She asks Adrien during dinner on their final night. All _she_ wants to do is pretend it’s not their final night, whether that means going straight to sleep, or just distracting herself away from it, but it can’t be easy for Adrien either.

“Actually.” Adrien says, “I said I’d meet some of the guys I’ve been hanging out with here, if that’s ok? Gorilla said he’d come supervise”

She can’t help look at Gabriel in concern. Adrien _is_ a sensible boy, and he _should_ be safe here, but it’s exactly the sort of thing she’d expect him to refuse.

“If you want.” Gabriel says instead, and he _really_ is committing to surprising her this week, she doesn’t know _what_ he’s going to say or do next at this point. “Nathalie and I will be at the champagne rotunda if you need us.”

Will they be now? That’s news to her. Tonight doesn’t seem like something to celebrate, but if Gabriel wants to delay the end of the night she can’t quibble with that and there is something nice in the idea of sitting outside in this balmy weather in the night. Something romantic.

“I didn’t expect you to say yes to Adrien,” She says on the walk over, “I didn’t think you approved of impromptu teenage gatherings.”

“Assuming he’s not lying to me it’s less a group of teenagers, and more one boy his age and his seven year old brother, and the elder two are supposed to be helping him with some digital escape game the hotel runs that they’re too old to be doing.”

That’s rather sweet actually, but more pertinently, “You two have been talking. That’s good.”

Gabriel doesn’t quite meet her smile. “Not about anything serious I’m afraid.”

“It’s a start.” She reassures him, “Start with the little things and you’ll get there.”

* * *

Gazing at Nathalie under the lights of the bar he can’t help but wonder what he’s done to deserve her faith in him.

She makes him feel like maybe they _can_ fix this, like everything can be put right; as if he hadn’t wasted all that time chasing a dream.

Adrien had been quite forceful that they should have some time to themselves tonight, and that makes him wonder if perhaps his commitment to them seems in question.

It’s not.

He’s made his decision. He just has to keep proving it to them every day. And doing things _better_ than that copy of him had done too.

“Gabriel?” Nathalie says in a slightly strangled voice looking at the menu, “Did you mean to order the most expensive bottle?”

“You prefer rosé.” He points out.

“There were cheaper pink champagnes.”

“You’re worth the best.” He says. There it’s easier to say it to her _that_ way than attempt to explain how important she is to them.

She rolls her eyes, but kisses him anyway. “You don’t have prove you care about me by spending money on me. The bill from this holiday is going to be terrifying anyway.”

“I don’t think most of the bill is your fault really.” He and Adrien had been the ones to crash through the window not her, “And I _like_ spending money on you.”

“Well, I prefer just having your attention. And so does Adrien for that matter.”

“You have my attention. Both of you do.”

* * *

“You can sleep if you want to.” Gabriel says, once the train set back off.

It throws her off a little. She guesses she _has_ been dozing off during the day a lot recently but she actually feels fine right now. _Actually_ fine not the manageable level of constant weakness she’d got used to with the Peacock Miraculous. People aren’t looking at her as if they’re worried she’s going to faint anymore, though of course people have very different over reasons to look at her now.

Adrien’s smirking and looking at him sat opposite her she remembers how this holiday had started.

“Are you teasing me?” She asks.

“I’m trying to be nice.”

“Well, I’m actually not tired for once, but I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

He looks slightly disappointed, and she’s not sure why. He sees her sleeping every night, it doesn’t seem like something he should be particularly be desirous of right now.

She gives it up as a mystery and goes back to her book but her mind can’t quite let go of the idea, it turns over in the background going through the events on their holiday, and she remembers his smugness the first time Adrien took a photo of the three of them, and how that first night after everything had come out had gone.

Adrien’s presence is the only thing that stops her commenting on it but when he excuses himself to go to the toilet she leans over, “You can’t _still_ be jealous.”

“Of course I’m not.” He says, and someone else might only see his dismissal but she’s known him _far_ too long to miss the small signs of his embarrassment.

“I can’t believe it. You _are._ ” She’s flattered in a way but it also seems wrong which Gabriel’s the one who’s here, and who’s alive, and who has her when the sentimonster has none of that.

“Nathalie.” He warns.

“Alright I won’t embarrass you in front of Adrien”

She _does_ take the chance to turn on her seat and rest against him so she can better look out the window and mindlessly lose herself in the countryside flashing by.

He makes a small sound of surprise, and moves the arm she was resting on dislodging her, but just as she’s about to point out that he’d _wanted_ to be used as a pillow, he wraps that arm round her back and pulls her in so her heads on his chest instead and that _is_ better.

* * *

Getting off the train in Paris doesn’t turn out to feel like hitting reality despite how he’s been trying to gear himself up to it.

When the car passes the gates of the house it does.

He doesn’t want to get out and face reality. _Face Emilie._ Turning the whole thing around and just never going back in seems like a much better idea.

Adrien doesn’t look any more eager to do so. Unlike him he had put his hand to the door handle but while he’s gripping it tightly enough that his knuckles are white he hasn’t actually opened it.

Eventually Nathalie forces the issue for him by opening his door, and that forces Adrien to move and actually open his.

Actually entering the house is even worse. The portrait of himself and Adrien looms down at them reproaching him for giving up as if Adrien hadn’t made it quite clear that giving up was the _only_ way he was going to have any sort of relationship with his son.

Nathalie slides her hand into his and he clutches onto it as if that one bit of warmth will chase away the chill that seems to pervade the house even though he’d set the central heating to come on.

“Did you want to see her?” He asks Adrien.

His son seems to break out of a trance, saying “ _Now?”_

“You don’t have to.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” Adrien offers.

Nathalie shifts next to him, “We signed Adrien out for tennis camp this week, but I can cancel it if you want.”

It’s terrible of him but he wants Adrien to take that out. He doesn’t want to confront Emilie, but he wants to confront Emilie first thing in the morning and then tackle everything they’d put off at work even less.

“Do you want to?” He forces himself to say to Adrien, “Or we could visit her in the evening once you’re finished?”

For once the uncertainty on Adrien’s face is clear to him, and he doesn’t impatiently hope for him to spit it out either.

“Maybe we should do that.” Adrien says, “If that’s ok?”

“Of course.” He says trying not to look too grateful, “We’ll do that.”

* * *

Gabriel keeps looking towards the door of the lounge as if expecting Adrien to appear back downstairs.

In truth she’s not that much better.

Usually the high empty ceilings and bare marble of the house are a blessing in summer but right now it feels like the midst of winter in here. Gabriel’s warmth against her side is the only thing stopping her from going to get a blanket or something.

She swirls round the remnants of the glass of wine he’d poured her after Adrien had gone to bed. They should probably be in bed too, but Gabriel isn’t showing any hint of moving, and certainly she has absolutely no desire to move right now.

Logically she knows she has to though. She sits back up away from him ready to stand up, “Well, I guess I should head off.”

“Head off?” Gabriel says, sounding confused, “Where?”

“My apartment.”

“Oh. I suppose you do need to check on it.”

Whether he’s being deliberately obtuse or he somehow _actually_ doesn’t realise what she’s saying she doesn’t know.

Her silence lies between them awkwardly.

“I didn’t mean to check on it.” She says, “I should go home.”

Someone else might miss the tension in him as all he does is somehow still further but she _knows_ him.

“I thought you’d stay here.”

“I know we shared a room in Cannes but that’s not the same thing, I can’t just move in with you after a week.”

“You could.”

“I shouldn’t.” She looks away from him, “I can’t just move into _your and Emilie’s_ room.”

That room is half a shrine. He’s never moved a thing of her’s since she lost consciousness. It might get cleaned, but it’s filled with Emilie’s clothes, and jewellery, and make-up, and photos of her and she just can’t sleep there.

She’s never going to begrudge the portrait of Emilie in the Atelier now that Gabriel can’t even make use of that lair but sleeping in a room with a large photo of Emilie hung on the wall glaring at her is quite a different proposition.

He relaxes ever so slightly, not in relief, but the fight’s drained out of him at her words.

“I didn’t think. I shouldn’t have expected you to.”

She stands up. “Goodnight Gabriel.”

He grabs for her hand, “There are other rooms. There’s _your_ room.”

It’s tempting, it’s ever-so tempting, but she is aware of what a mess their relationship is already, and despite her own lack of success in anything lasting she wants to try and make this into something more normal as if that will make this work and that means not just moving into his house immediately, even if honestly she hadn’t been far off doing that even before the holiday. There’s a reason he can call one of the guest rooms hers.

“I should still go.”

He stands up, “If you must.”

She lets him pull her back into him into a kiss. _That_ tests her conviction in leaving but he’s the one to end it, though he barely pulls away, letting his forehead rest against hers. “Goodnight Nathalie.”

* * *

He fitfully falls in and out of sleep, and he wonders whether the problem is being back here, or the Nathalie’s absence or both.

Just as he’s about to drift off again his phone goes.

Who on earth was ringing him in the middle of the night?

The name on the screen slowly formed in front of his bleary eyes. _Nathalie._

“Is something wrong?” He asks frantically, “Are you alright.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice comes through the phone, but then his heart sinks as he hears what her sobbing, “I shouldn’t have rang and woken you. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Don’t apologise. What’s wrong?”

“Just a nightmare. You disappeared from my arms the way your copy did, but I knew it was you somehow, and I knew it was my fault.”

Oh his poor Nathalie.

“It’s alright. I’m here and we both know you'd never hurt me.”

He can hear her breathing starting to become more regular, but when she speaks her voice doesn’t sound any less shakey, “I feel like I can’t know _what_ I could do. I mean, look at everything we’ve _done_.”

He gets out of bed awkwardly balancing the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he gets dressed. Technically the streets should be empty at this time of night but he can’t bring himself to leave the house in his pyjamas. 

“We know what you _wouldn’t_ do. You gave up that Miraculous because you wouldn’t fight Adrien. You gave it up before I did. I know you’d never harm either of us.”

“Not on purpose.”

“If we’re going to start comparing accidental harm and slights, then we both know I’m always going to come out on top.”

She made a noise halfway between a sob and a laugh.

“Can you?” Nathalie swallowed, “Can you stay on the phone with me for a bit and just talk? About anything, work even, I don’t mind what.”

“I can do better than that.”

“What?”

“I’m coming over.”

“What? No. That’s ridiculous.”

He’s no idea why she thinks _that_ would stop him from doing anything. It’s like she doesn’t know him at all. He manages to locate the car keys and heads out.

“Well, I’m coming anyway.”

* * *

She wakes up before the alarm, and since she doesn’t have to get up she lets herself stay in the comfort of the bed and watches Gabriel sleep.

She still can’t quite believe that he’d actually driven over.

He _is_ a totally ridiculous man, but he’s _her_ ridiculous man, and she still can’t quite believe that fact either.

What she does have to admit is that she does sleep better in his arms.

Which makes things difficult because all her reasons for not staying there in the first place are true, and it’s not as if she can ask him to come back to hers every night, and even if he _could_ that doesn’t really make things any better than staying at his apart from creating a clearer line between their work time and their personal time.

She pushes an errant hair that’s escaped onto his forehead during the night back, and he opens his eyes.

“Sorry,” She says, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s alright. I was pretty much there anyway. What time is it?”

“Almost time to get up unfortunately.”

“That’s a pity.”

They’re in agreement on that. She’d much rather stay here in bed with him than have to confront the rest of the world. Including Adrien with what’s supposed to be happening today.

The shriek of her alarm breaks through their contemplation.

“I should go shower.” She forces herself to get out of bed, “Do you need to?”

“I might as well do it at home where I’ve got fresh clothes.”

That’s something she hadn’t consider and now she’s annoyed at herself. They’ll need to rush if they’re to get back to the house in time for _him_ to get in on time for the start of the day.

She tries to calm down and go through her morning routine quickly, but not so hurriedly that she’ll mess everything up. Gabriel’s doing _something_ in the kitchen when she goes back in to retrieve her clothes, before heading back to the bathroom to do her hair, and it feels oddly domestic. For a moment it’s a bit like seeing a window into the world the sentimonster had offered her.

She shakes her head and tries to focus. She doesn’t have time to think about things like that. She needs to get ready _asap._ At least _she’s_ not scheduled to go out today so if her hair isn’t quite perfect it’s not going to offend anyone other than herself.

Looking in the mirror at herself dressed for work is odd. She doesn’t understand how two weeks can change how she looks at herself so much. The Agrestes might not go on holiday but she’s does. She’d even had her hair up in a bun on holiday even if they had generally been low messy buns. There’s no reason for this to be so discombobulating.

She finds a cafetiere of freshly brewed coffee on the counter top which touchingly explains Gabriel’s presence in the kitchen earlier and pours herself a mug, and heads back into the bedroom to find him.

The scene she finds is confusing. She swears she unpacked last night so what _is_ he doing now.

“Are you _packing_ my clothes?”

She’s less offended than she should be at how he’s just assumed she won’t mind him going through her things, but that doesn’t make the scene make any more sense.

“I thought we didn’t have much time.” He says like that explains anything.

“We don’t.” She sips at her coffee, “We should probably go once I finish this.” Before even maybe. She can keep drinking on the way to the car, even if she can’t when she’s driving. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing.”

“Packing you some things for the house.”

“Gabriel,” She sighs, “last night doesn’t change anything.”

He gets up, and walks over to her, “I know you have your reasons. I’m don’t expect you to sleep in my room, but you don’t have to. Sleep in your own. We don’t even have to sleep together if you want, but I want to be there for you if tonight happens again, I need you to be there for me.”

That last sentence is unfair. Her inability to resist comforting him is _always_ where her boundaries fail.

She tilts her head, “Do you seriously think that there’s any chance we won’t end up in the same bed every night in this plan? We did last night and we were in separate buildings.”

He swallows, “Stay tonight at least.”

Tonight. Her grip fastens on the coffee cup, as she remembers what’s happening tonight.

“I’ll stay tonight.” She can’t abandon them after that, “And probably far too many other nights, but not permanently. Not yet.”

* * *

When he gets back down to the Atelier Nathalie’s sat at her desk on her computer looking for all the world as if none of the last fortnight had ever happened.

He doesn’t like it.

Maybe she’s on the right track though. Focusing on work is going to be difficult enough as it is with what’s looming over them tonight.

Then she looks up and smiles at him in a way she never would have done before and everything seems a little bit more as it should be, “Ready to get back to the grind?”

“Ready might be overstating it.” He says, “But I’d best get to it.”

“Good luck.”

* * *

“No, no Mr Agreste _did_ agree to that with Mrs Bourgeois.” She agrees with the voice at the other end of the phone, “but he never specified an in-person interview. He doesn’t _do_ those.”

She rolls her eyes at the complaints at the other end, glad that the woman at the other end of the phone can’t see her.

Eventually they agree to do it by video call. Why they made such a fuss about it for something that’s going to be written up she’s not quite sure.

“And, Miss Sancoeur _will_ be there too?” Audrey’s assistant asks almost making her laugh. In retrospect she had answered the phone with as “Nathalie” rather than as “Miss Sancoeur” but she’d have thought someone from _Style Queen_ organising an interview that’s partially with her, and partially about her would know who she was.

Unless they just assumed she’d been let go already.

“Unfortunately yes.” She confirms. Let her make what she will of that. She’s only telling the truth.

She pencils the date into Gabriel’s calendar but she’s not going to bring it up today. They need to talk about it and about what they’re going to say, and she’s _not_ going to do on the day he’s supposed to bring Adrien to see Emilie.

* * *

At least his work _is_ a distraction, and he thinks it is for Nathalie too even if he’s fairly certain she’s having to field quite a few queries on _them_ which she’d no doubt do prefer to do without from how unusually flustered she is on the phone call.

It does seem unfair even if it is her job.

“No he’s _not_ available for comment.” She says, “No _I’m_ not available for comment either. And Adrien certainly isn’t.”

“All ok?” He calls over.

She swivels, “Do people not have _better_ things to do with their lives than gossip?”

“As far as I can tell, apparently not.” He says, aware that he’s more used to it, and ignoring it than she is. Ever since he made the mistake of trying to find out what people thought of Emilie’s disappearance and discovered the ridiculous amount of people who seemed to actually believe he’d murdered her, he’d gone back to his commitment to ignoring it and letting Nathalie monitor any chatter about Hawkmoth.

How people could look at his relationship with Emilie and think he’d murdered his wife he can’t understand. He’d _adored_ her _._ He’d done the very opposite of killing her by refusing to accept she was gone.

His muscles tense up without his permission. Maybe they’re not as wrong as he’d thought. He _is_ letting her die. He should never have agreed to become Hawkmoth, but he should have refused that at the time. Betraying that promise to her somehow feels worse than the betrayal that being with Nathalie could be construed as.

And, he’d almost killed Nathalie too. Even if what he’s doing with Emilie is actually accepting the truth rather than sending her to her death maybe those people weren’t that wrong about him, and what he’d do to the women that love him. To the women he loves.

For that matter what he'd done to _Adrien._ He'd not known of course but he had known he'd been putting his son at risk with his akumatisations and that hadn’t stopped him.

“Gabriel?” Nathalie calls over, having apparently noticed his lack of interaction with his screen, “Are _you_ ok?”

“I think everything’s just finally hit me. What I’ve done. What I _could_ have done. What I’m going to do tonight.”

She stands up, and walks over but she hesitates to reach out to his surprise. Nathalie hadn’t held back from comforting him before, he doesn't know why she suddenly would now.

“Are you going to be alright tonight?” She says, “Should you go and see her before Adrien gets back.”

He’s considered that himself, and it's probably sensible but he’s been unable to convince himself to do so.

He shakes his head, “I think we should say our goodbyes together.”

Nathalie’s frown eases slightly and he realises how his distress about seeing Emilie could be construed. He closes the gap between the two of them and hugs her letting his head rest on hers. The strong scent of her hairspray in place of her suncream throws him when he inhales but he clings to her.

She tenses at first but he can feel her relax into his hold, “Adrien will probably appreciate that.”

He breathes in and somehow it turns into a sob against her.

* * *

She feels as much as hears him starting to cry. “Gabriel.” She attempts to reassure him. “It’ll be ok.”

 _This_ she can deal with. She’s dealt with his despair at the situation before. This is _doable._ In other circumstances she might worry that he regretted his more recent choices, she _had_ worried even, before he’d drawn her into his arms but whatever’s happening now it’s clear he’s not going to throw him to the wayside for Emilie.

“Come on.” She says disentangling herself from him. He lets her go reluctantly but lets her pull him down so they can sit on the steps in front of his podium, and then she lets _him_ pull him into her arms. She feels oddly passive compared to how she usually comforts him

Once he manages to stop crying enough to talk he totally throws her, “Do you forgive me?”

“ _Me?”_ She says utterly lost. They’d been talking about Emilie. About Adrien. Where does she come into that?

“If you can’t for what I’ve done to you, then how can Adrien? How can Emilie’s spirit?”

“I’ve always forgiven you.” She tells him truthfully, “I probably shouldn’t, but how could I not when I went along with you for all of it?”

Everything she’s done she’s done for _him_ but that doesn’t make the fact that she’d done it not her failing. She doesn’t regret supporting him but her reasons don’t magically make everything she’s done good things.

Apparently she’s not good at reassuring him either because he only clings to her tighter.

“It hasn’t been too bad on the phone has it?”

“Not too bad.” She confirms. It’s been irritating but it hasn’t been anything she can’t cope with. She’s coped with worse. “I should probably warn you that apparently over half the company had suspicions of us already. I’ve had some very knowing sounding congratulations.”

Honestly she has suspicions they’ve just validated some sort of betting pool. She’d feel vaguely insulted at the implications when she’d _never_ have made any sort of approach to him without him doing so first but she can’t really now that they are together.

Plus, as far as she can glean, a lot of them seem to regard Gabriel as the major beneficiary which seems mad to her.

“Plus tell me I wasn’t as obvious as Adrien.” Gabriel says.

“Not to me anyway.”

* * *

Once he manages to let go of Nathalie and get back to work he _is_ able to lose himself in it for a bit but then it gets closer and closer to when Adrien is due back and his focus is completely lost.

Only the memory of his previous experiences stops him from looking up what the current consensus on Emilie’s status is.

He has no idea how he’s going to see her and hide what he’s feeling from Adrien. Or even if he _should_ hide his feelings from Adrien. Every bit of his upbringing is screaming at him that he should. Sharing things with Nathalie is very different to expecting his son to deal with them but right now he can’t help but think that maybe that is what Adrien needs.

Maybe they _could_ mourn together and maybe that is what Adrien wants.

Then finally the doorbell goes and the tightness that’s been building up in his throat coalesces into a lump.

* * *

She goes to answer the door when it becomes clear that Gabriel isn’t going to.

Adrien doesn’t look any happier when she lets him in. She shakes off his bodyguard’s concern and he looks unconvinced but does leave them alone.

“You don’t have to go down now if you don’t want you.” She offers, reaching out to his shoulder unsure if he’d want her touch.

“No.” Adrien shakes his head, “I want to get it over with.”

She can’t blame him but she also can’t pretend that she’s any eagerness at _all_ for what has to come.

That ambivalence is something she tries to hide as she guides him into the Atelier and to his father.

“Adrien’s here.” She says pointlessly as if Gabriel couldn’t see that for himself, “Can you take him down?”

“Will you come?” He asks.

It seems inappropriate to be there, and she doesn’t want to confront Emilie herself either, but she also doesn’t want to leave Gabriel alone. Technically she knows he’ll have Adrien but she’s dubious that father and son will be much comfort to each other down there. Not with the lies and history between them.

“I can.” She says, “If Adrien’s not uncomfortable with it.”

“I think you should be there.” Adrien says. “I’d feel better with you there.”

“Alright. I’ll come down then.”

She still has to send the two of them down alone. There’s not space for three of them on that lift. In truth there’s barely space for two, and in retrospect maybe how Gabriel had pulled her close and brought her down with him instead of making her wait historically should have been a sign of what was happening between them.

Watching as Adrien stares as his father keys in the code to summon it, she realises that she’d not considered how this recontextualisation of it might stop him ever being able to view the portrait of his mother the same way. She regrets that. It’s a beautiful painting and Adrien deserves to be able to treasure it.

She has to give him a push out of his paralysis to make him join his father on the journey down.

Every small sound the lift makes on its excursion down and then back up send her nerves almost off the edge.

Anything could be happening between the two of them down there.

Finally she’s able to follow them, but when she does she finds Adrien on his knees crying in front of the casket.

Gabriel doesn’t look much better.

Not for the first time in her life she has absolutely no idea what to do. She feels utterly insufficient to the task of comforting Adrien, and she’s not even sure if she should. Maybe he deserves to cry it out and finally properly mourn his mother now that he knows the truth of what’s happened to her.

Instead she goes to Gabriel. _He_ she has some idea of how to give what he needs.

* * *

Nathalie’s touch on his arm startles him, and he automatically looks towards her. Her very presence is reassuring and he starts to relax a little.

She looks at him in clear question.

Adrien answers it for them, “ _Why?”_ He appeals to Emilie’s still form, “Why would you leave us like this? Why would you ask that of him?”

He wants to do nothing more than crumple against Nathalie and preferably not leave the warmth of her embrace for the rest of his life but he forces himself to speak. “She didn’t know that she was asking.”

“How could she not have known?” Adrien cries.

“She put too much trust in me. We thought it would be easy, no one had turned up with your Miraculouses in _decades._ One or two battles and she’d thought she’d be back.”

“And I stopped you.” Adrien says, “So, does that mean I’m the one killing her?”

That’s not right. That’s not right at _all._ If anyone is it’s him. He wants to tell Adrien that the same way he’d told Nathalie that but she gets there first.

“Oh Adrien no.” She says releasing her grip on him, and running to his son, “This is _our_ choice. Your father’s and mine. And before that it was your mother’s. All you did was defend everyone else out there from that.”

Uncertain of how Adrien will react he slowly approaches him, “She’d _never_ have wanted me to fight you. You have to believe that.”

That’s the gospel truth. Emilie’s rage at him for not realising just who he’d fought is something he doesn’t want to imagine. All he can do is try to make up for it now.

She might have expected him to be able to _convince_ Adrien to give him the ring on the discovery of it but really she should have known that while _she_ might have been able to do that _he_ certainly couldn’t. Not when Adrien, well actually he doesn’t know how Adrien got the ring but he assumes there was some sort of promise involved, and besides that Adrien’s certainly devoted to Ladybug at least.

“I want to believe that.” Adrien says.

Encouraged by this, and by how Adrien hasn’t drawn away he sits down next to him and when that doesn’t make Adrien move either he hugs him.

Nathalie looks uncertain but follows his example.

“You know there’s one good thing here?” Adrien manages from between them.

“What’s that?” He says intrigued despite himself. There doesn’t seem a single good thing here apart from possibly Nathalie and somehow he can’t see that that’s what Adrien’s talking about.

“At least I don’t have to worry about Hawkmoth akumatising me because I’m upset.”

He might possibly have deserved that one.


	13. Chapter 13

Adrien’s been quiet since they took him to see his mother. Not that he’s ever been loud exactly thank goodness but this is more than usual.

Before everything he might have thought it was a good thing. A quiet Adrien is an obedient Adrien who's not interrupting him, and by extension not interrupting his plans to get Emilie back.

Now he knows none of that is true, and he's not trying to get Emilie back.

So now he doesn't like it.

He can't remember what Adrien had been like back when they’d told him she’d disappeared. He’d been so wrapped up in his own grief, and denying that grief, and his determination to save her that he doesn’t know if he even knew at the time.

Now he has no idea what this son is thinking and he has no idea what to ask or if he even _should._

A fortnight ago he might have gone down to ask Emilie what to do but Emilie can't answer him.

He looks up at the living woman who can when she brings him his lunch.

“I'm worried about Adrien.” He tells Nathalie.

“Has something happened?”

“Nothing big. He just seems...subdued.”

She reaches out to him, rubbing her thumb against his arm, “He's had a big shock. He'll get there.”

“I just don't know what to do for him.”

“Just be there with him.”

That seems easier said than done. He's no idea how to spend time with Adrien. The main thing he has in common with him is that they both transform into masked magically powered versions of themselves.

Or they used to. He’s not anymore. He has to keep remembering that.

It’s not really a very helpful starting ground for talking to Adrien though. Even _he_ can see that.

* * *

She feels furtive as she enters the church. This place isn’t really for people like her. It’s for believers and Nathalie doesn’t know _what_ she believes, apart from the fact that she knows as well as anyone in Paris that this world they live in isn’t just mundane.

According to their research Jeanne D’Arc had been a Ladybug Miraculous wielder so just the fact she’s met Kwamis can’t make her being here ridiculous though.

The weight of her sins though, that’s a different matter, and she keeps expecting someone to look at her and somehow _realise_ everything she’s done. Or, at least the severity of it, if not the actual details of it.

She makes her way over to the votive candles anyway, and takes two, putting some euros in the offering box.

She can’t do anything for her sentimonsters now. They have no grave, but she can remember then at least, and pray that if anything does remains of them they’re at peace.

Lighting them she can’t pretend that she doesn’t linger a little longer over the copy she’d made of Gabriel than the one she lights for the copy of Ladybug but she’d never regretted her apart from as a failure until she’d made _him_ and he’d gained sentience, and she’d been forced to confront what she’d created.

And she owes him too. Gabriel’s feelings are real, she believes that, and he might have started to realise them without her losing the bracelet, but she can’t pretend that having an apparent rival there didn’t give him the final push.

The sentimonster gave her a way to the life that she wanted.

This is the very least she can do for him.

* * *

He hovers in front of Adrien’s door. This _really_ shouldn’t be that hard. He’s done things that should have been much more difficult, and things that should have been much more distasteful, for Adrien while they were away.

He can open this door and ask his son how he’s doing.

He reaches up to knock and then gives up.

Apparently he _can’t_ just do that. This is getting embarrassing.

Adrien’s voice floats out through the door. He must be on the phone. All the more reason that Gabriel should just turn around now and leave him for another day. 

Nathalie _will_ be disappointed in him though then. She won’t say it but she’ll just look at him and he’ll _know_ that she is.

It’s utterly ridiculous to hover like this though. He can’t just stand here listening for Adrien to tie up his conversation.

Or. Actually he _can._ This might be a way of finding out Adrien’s feeling without actually having to ask him.

He leans against the door. It’s difficult to make the muffled sounds out, but from how Adrien seems to be stuttering over his words he’d bet that it’s repetition of how that lunch with the girl he’d liked had gone.

It certainly doesn’t sound like they’re going any better. He _hopes_ this is a side-effect of Adrien’s age because there is _no_ good reason for Adrien to be this bad at this. He’s quite sure he was never like this. 

This can’t last. He’s changing this. If only for the dignity of the Agreste name.

He’s just made that decision when the Adrien opens the door.

Father and son just freeze.

“Um, sorry Marinette I have to go. My father’s looking for me.” Adrien says.

The two of them exchange a set of painfully saccharine goodbyes and then Adrien hangs up the call and puts his phone in his pocket.

“Were you _eavesdropping_ on me?”

“I didn’t plan to.” He tries to defend himself. It’s more honest than saying he hadn’t meant to when he _had,_ “I came to talk to you, and then you were on the phone.”

“And you _stayed and listened?_ ” Adrien shakes his head, “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. That is exactly the sort of thing Hawkmoth would do.”

It’s not as if he’d deliberately spied on people. He’d not pried more than he _had_ to send an akuma; seeing more of those people’s lives had honestly been the last thing he’d wanted. Especially given the sort of drama that had to be going on for someone to be a good target. His own life was exhausting enough while getting embroiled in other people’s troubles.

Something tells him Adrien wouldn’t find this a convincing argument.

“I never focused my Miraculous on you as Hawkmoth.”

“Maybe you should have.” Adrien snaps, “Then maybe you’d have realised what you were doing to me earlier.”

“Maybe.” He says despite the fact that it feels like a lie. He’d never wanted to fight Adrien and _maybe_ the revelation of his son being Chat Noir would have been enough to stop him, but he knows that without that push from Nathalie, and without him being finally ready to let Emilie go, things could have gone much worse. Besides it’s a lie to pretend he hadn’t known Adrien was unhappy and that Hawkmoth wasn’t helping. He’d just thought what he was doing was a necessity to fix that, “Though I think you might be giving too much credit to my emotional perception.”

“Why are you even here?”

“I was worried about you.”

Adrien stares at him.

“All of this is a lot to deal with. I know that. I wanted to check on you.”

“And you ended up spying on me on the phone to my friend.” Adrien sighs, “You’re really bad at this you know?”

He can’t even be insulted by that when it’s the truth. “I’m aware of that.”

Adrien stares at him.

“I do _want_ to improve things. I did come up here meaning to _ask_ you how you were doing.”

“Are you going to ask me now?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Not really. Maybe another time.” Adrien turns to shut his door but then he turns around, “How much did you hear of that conversation?”

“Not much. The door’s pretty soundproof. It didn’t sound like it was going that well though.”

Adrien groans, “I could speak to her _fine_ until you pointed out I liked her.”

“I don’t understand why it’s such an issue.” He points out, “You talk to Ladybug fine.”

“That’s different _. Chat Noir_ talks to Ladybug.”

“ _You’re_ Chat Noir. If you can do it _with_ the mask you can do it without.”

He’d almost suggested that maybe Chat Noir should talk to Marinette then but no, he’s not encouraging secret night-time rendezvous. If Adrien’s going to date this girl then it’s going to be in a sensible supervised manner.

“Right, like you treated Nathalie the way Hawkmoth treated Mayura?”

He’s torn between admitting Adrien has a point, and pointing out that it’s _not the same thing,_ Adrien doesn’t have tangled skein of guilt and promises linking him to someone else the way Gabriel had to Emilie, and the way Hawkmoth hadn’t, publically at least.

There’s a more important point there though.

“I do now.” He considers what he just said, “Or in some ways I do now. I’d like to think I treat her rather better now.”

“Yeah,” Adrien replies, “I guess you do.”

“I am trying to better.” He says. “To both of you.”

Adrien smiles weakly.

“And that’s why we’re going to sort out your problem speaking to this girl.”

Adrien’s eyes widen, “Wait what?”

“You can’t just collapse into a sputtering mess because you like a girl Adrien. You _are_ a public figure. We’re going to fix this, whether that means elocution lessons, or acting classes, or I don’t know what.”

* * *

She comes in the door to the mansion still high off the rush of having tried out going to the gym and actually feeling able to do it. Out of habit she automatically checks the Atelier first.

No Gabriel.

Good. He shouldn’t be working this late.

The question though remains of where exactly he is then, because the whole ground floor had seemed to be in darkness save for the hall itself when she’d came in.

Emilie’s portrait towers over her with its hidden entrance calling out.

There’s no reason for him to be in the lair. If he wants to be somewhere Adrien can’t interrupt him then he could just lock to the dock to here, or his bedroom, and truthfully Adrien doesn’t seem very _likely_ to come looking for him at the moment.

The lift goes to two places though. Gabriel hasn’t acted like he’s had any desire to visit Emilie since he took Adrien. If anything he’s acted quite the opposite which _should_ reassure her but honestly concerns her because that time had necessarily been about giving Adrien the space to accept the truth, rather than letting Gabriel confront it, and he needs to if he’s truly going to move on.

She’d still feel oddly betrayed if he deliberately chose to go down when she was out of the house.

Walking up to the picture she lets her fingers hover over the secret buttons but doesn’t press them. If they’re going to make this work then she needs to learn to trust him. At the very least she should check upstairs first. All this fretting could be for naught. He could just be in his room. Or it could even be really stupid because he could be in _her_ room.

She lets her hand fall away from the portrait and turns away. She’ll check upstairs first at least.

Heading up the stairs, she goes up the side towards Adrien’s room, telling herself that she just wants to check he’s asleep ready for tomorrow, and not that she’s putting off what she might discover.

There’s a light shining out from under his door so apparently it was actually _was_ the right thing to do. As she gets closer she realises he must be chatting to his friends because she can hear indistinct voices.

Just about to knock and remind him to go to bed she stops with her knuckles an inch from the door. That sounded like _Gabriel._ Maybe she should leave them to it if the two of them are actually talking.

Only then she swears she hears him say, “Come _on,_ be Chat Noir”, and maybe intervention is necessary.

She knocks, and the conversation falls silent, Gabriel answers the door looking guilty and she panics for a second, but then she spots Adrien’s face and he _also_ looks guilty. Or, she looks between them again, and perhaps embarrassment is the better description for the emotion they’re showing.

“I was just going to remind Adrien it’s time to get to bed.” She says, when neither of them offer any sort of explanation.

Gabriel looks at his watch, “I hadn’t realised it was so late. Thank you for the reminder.” Then he leans in and presses a chaste kiss to her lips, “Go to bed, I’ll join you once Adrien and I have tidied up.”

“Alright,” She says her attention distracted by what seems to be a mannequin from downstairs behind Adrien. A piece of paper is affixed to its neck, but she can’t see what’s printed on it from here. “I’m going to go shower. I don’t want to find either of you still up once I’m done, you’ve both got busy days tomorrow.”

She stops unsure what to do. She should wish Adrien goodnight. It’s something she’s done plenty of times. That seems…cold though now in their new relationship to each other. To hug him, though, that seems like too much. That only happens between them when things are particularly fraught.

She reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, “Goodnight Adrien.”

She swears as she heads out that see hears Gabriel say, “ _See?_ It’s easy” and Adrien respond, “Really not helpful Father.” Which really only leaves her _more_ lost about what she’s just walked in on than she was already.

Adrien hadn’t seemed upset though, so maybe she should leave it be. If he and Gabriel are voluntarily talking civilly about his alter ego that has to be a good thing.

* * *

Nathalie stands up from her desk. “I’m going for lunch, call me if you need me.”

It’s the chance he’s been waiting for but now he hesitates to say it, Nathalie almost gets to the door before he forces himself to speak, “Nathalie?”

She stops and turns around, “Yes?”

She’s still more muted in the Atelier than she was on holiday, or even than she is in the rest of the house, but he thinks she looks hopeful and that makes it even harder to say it and. he almost just gives into his cowardice and tells her to bring him back something, but he knows he has to do it. He still hesitates. “We’re not expecting any important calls then?”

“No. I wouldn’t be leaving if we were. It’s safe for you to take a break now if that’s what you’re asking.”

He knows it’s unfair to her to string this out. “I wanted to go speak to Emilie. I…owe her an explanation. I didn’t really have the chance when we brought Adrien down.”

Nathalie answers in careful tone he can’t quite read, “Did you want me there?”

The idea of her comforting presence there with him is tempting but, “No. I think I have to do this alone. But, I didn’t want to hide it from you. I wanted to know you were ok with this?”

He’s not brave enough to look for her reaction.

She starts to walk over to him, “I’m not going to tell you to never see her again. Especially when you and Adrien still have to work out how you want to handle putting her to rest. But I’m glad you told me. Thank you.” She leans up and presses a kiss to his cheek, “Good luck.”

That kiss feels like a brand of protection as he stands in front of Emilie’s portrait ready to confront her. He doesn’t want to, but he needs to make this official.

His resolution is tested at the sight of Emilie in her casket, but it’s buoyed up to because looking at the casket now he can see _that’s not Emilie._ Emilie was the sun, and movement, and constant ideas, and determination, and love. This is just her body. Emilie, if she still exists, and he _does_ believe that she does is somewhere else.

Like an icon though it’s still a focus for his jumbled thoughts and what he wants to say to her.

“I suppose you know what’s happening. Adrien’s should have made that clear enough. I’m,” stopping he almost says, giving up comes to mind too, “letting you go.”

There’s no reaction because there can’t be.

“I have to. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what _Adrien_ wants me to do. Everything I’ve been doing-it hasn’t been working. I’ve become someone you wouldn’t like very much. _Someone I don’t like very much._ I suppose I’ve become so used to nothing having lasting consequences that I never really expected there to be any, and now I know that there could have been terrible ones.”

He takes a deep breath, “I should tell you what happened though. I owe you that, and don’t laugh, I know some of it is a bit ridiculous.”

* * *

She’s just sent an email when she looks over and notices the time. The car hasn’t left to pick up Adrien from tennis camp, and it should have by now unless he’s something on, and she didn’t think he did today.

Opening on his schedule she sees his down at to have dinner at Miss Dupain-Cheng’s.

She didn’t add that.

Which leaves two people who could have.

“Gabriel?” She calls, “Did you give Adrien permission to go out this evening?”

He makes a positive noise in response but doesn’t look up from his screen or say anything more. Whether he actually heard what she was asking or was just too engrossed in his designs is questionable but she figures it’s his problem if he didn’t approve, she’s done her part.

At least he _is_ focused on his work. It’s a pleasant change of pace from back when they’d been akumatising people. Things are almost back to how they used to be.

Except of course for the matter of their relationship, which the Nathalie of the years before all of this could never even have imagined.

She checks his own schedule again, but that’s all as it should be so she goes back to fielding his emails, until it’s time to remind him about the doctor coming for the check-up he’d finally let her book for him.

The rest of the day goes much as normal. She reminds him of his appointment and he even goes out to greet the doctor himself, rather than waiting for her.

Unfortunately they go to consult in another room so she’s not able to listen in on their conversation.

Gabriel looks satisfied when he returns though so she can only assume it went well.

He stops at her desk and leans over her, his arms sliding over her shoulders.

“Are you done for the day?” He asks. 

Looking up at him she says, “Just let me send this email, and I will be, and you can have my full attention.”

“I like the sound of that.” 

His presence behind her is distracting and it takes her much longer to draft it than it usually would but she does it eventually.

“Done.” She says, and he releases her so she can swivel around and stand up, “How was your appointment?”

“Apparently I only have superficial bruising,” He says, “So I don’t have to be concerned about physical activity at all.”

“Is that so?”

He smirks and kisses her in lieu of a verbal answer. Part of her remembers where they are and how they’re supposed to not let this bleed into work, and how there are other people in the house, and this is a bad idea, and some of her is trying to justify that it’s fine because he _did_ wait until she was done, but most of her just doesn’t care.

She lets him steer her back against the wall, and wonders if he could still pick her up and carry her. She likes the idea of that.

The coolness of the wall against her back distracts her from the heat of her desire and she realises, “You let Adrien go out this evening deliberately!”

“Guilty.” He admits, but he doesn’t look like he feels the slightest bit guilty.

Then again, she’s not the slightest bit cross so she guess it evens out.

She raises an eyebrow and baits him, “Aren’t you going to take advantage then?”

He probably didn’t really need the prompting.

* * *

“You know,” Nathalie says rolling over so she’s lying on top of him and propping herself up on her elbows to look at him, “Your plans are much more enjoyable these days.”

He can’t disagree with that in their current position, “I’d hope so. It took long enough manage to get Adrien to get himself invited out. I was beginning to despair of him.” 

It’s not a lie. He was very close to just telling his son to ask the damn girl out. Dating her can’t be more of a distraction from his schoolwork and hobbies than the current situation already is. Part of him still regrets that it’s not Ladybug Adrien had chosen because it _would_ have been another shield of safety for them, but if he has to choose his schoolfriend he would have thought that fact that it should be much easier it would be would be the major advantage of that.

“Oh, are you giving him romantic advice now?” Nathalie asks.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised. I can be plenty romantic.” He defends himself. He can show her romance if she wants romance. 

Nathalie puts on a show of consideration, “I suppose you can be. I’m more surprised you’re _encouraging_ him.”

“It’s painful watching the current situation. “ He justifies, “Besides it’s not as if I can pretend he’ll do what I’ll tell him. If he has to date already I’d prefer to have control over the situation than have him hide it from me like he did Chat Noir.”

She looks at him inscrutably, but she must approve because she leans down and gives him a quick peck on the lips, before smiling, “You’re right I think. The parenting books I’ve reading would agree anyway.”

“You’re been reading parenting books?” He asks and wonders, unsure to interpret that given her previous protestations of disinterest on the subject.

She blushes. “About step-parenting. I thought it might help with how things would change with me and Adrien but they’re not very helpful really.”

“No? I suppose there aren’t many chapters dealing with what to do when it turns out your child is your superhero nemesis.”

“Surprisingly not no” She says smiling but then it falls, “but they seem to assume you’ve never met the child in question before, or have lots of chapters about dealing with them not approving of you, neither of which are very suitable.”

He reaches up to stroke the side of her face, “Keep doing what you’re doing. Honestly I think you’re better with him than I am.”

* * *

She considers. It _is_ a personal matter, but it reflects on the brand too, and they should talk while Adrien’s not here. Plus she can’t keep putting it off. Not when they’ll have to talk to Adrien about it before he says anything too.

It’s not as if she hasn’t done interview preparation with Gabriel before. It’s not _wrong_ for her to take time out of the workday for this.

She’d have done it if _Emilie_ had wanted it, doesn’t that mean _she_ has the right to do it now?

She’s going to do it.

She schedules it in.

* * *

“Why are we in the dining room?” He can’t help but ask confused, and his confusion is only increased when Nathalie slips off her blazer and puts it on the back of the chair, but then puts two tablets down on the table as she sits down.

Whether he’s dealing with his assistant or his lover is very unclear right at this moment.

“You don’t have enough chairs in the Atelier and I wasn’t having this conversation with you looming over me.” She points out.

“What conversation are we having?” He asks, his calendar had said interview preparation but Nathalie doesn’t seem to be dialling anyone in to discuss approved topics.

“About this interview you agreed with Audrey.”

“Yes?” He’d had to give Audrey something, and they needed to take control of the narrative, especially with if they’re going to somehow give Emilie an official public funeral and Nathalie _knows_ that.

“What are you going to tell them?” She says, “I know you’ve been being very open about this but how _did_ we get together? It’s not like we can give them the actual story.”

She has a point. A very good point. Even if it wouldn’t get them thrown in jail the truth is just embarrassing. It almost makes him sound as bad at relationships as Adrien. “You’re right.”

“And I,” She hesitates and reaches out and takes his hand, “I don’t want pretend that you weren’t devoted to Emilie after you lost her, but I think maybe we should claim we were together before Cannes. Or nearly anyway. It might….look better.”

“That’s not entirely a lie,” he admits, “I don’t think there’s any point pretending our relationship was still professional before I sent you away at this stage.”

In retrospect he’d been an idiot. He hadn’t been ready to realise any physical attraction to Nathalie before those photos had forced his hand but he’d come up with a whole plan just so he could send her away somewhere where she’d be safe, and could relax, with a whole suitcase of clothes he’d picked out for her, and with his son. That sentimonster had been a manifestation of his feelings for her. None of that had been very platonic really. God, he’d already being trying to get her to move into his house.

“Probably not.” She agrees, “But what should we say?”

He exhales, “Best to be vague on the timeline I suppose. That shouldn’t be hard, it’s not like I can pinpoint when I fell for you.”

“There was me thinking it was when you saw me in a swimsuit.”

“We’re not putting that.” He replies immediately. He’d like to keep some dignity publicly at least.

She blinks, “I wasn’t suggesting we would.”

“And that was when I had to stop denying it,” He explains, “Not the same thing.”

“Oh,” She says, brushing a non-existent hair back into place, “But what _are_ we going to say?”

“We could give them _some_ of the truth I suppose. That we grew close when you helped me after Emilie’s disappearance.”

“That makes me sound like a golddigger waiting for my chance.” Nathalie says flatly.

“ _As friends._ And then,” He grimaces, “If we’re trying to come up with something like the truth then maybe when I saw someone else flirting with you I realised I wanted more than that from you, and then we got together in some way that doesn’t sound like I forced you into it. I’m still working on that part.”

“You wouldn’t force me into it.”

“We know _that,_ but you do work for me. The optics aren’t great.”

“Maybe we should admit I was ill? That could be have been how we grew close.”

* * *

She looks over the drafts of the interview Adrien had done with Chloé that had been sent to them for approval. Gabriel had agreed with Audrey that his son’s should go out first. Adrien’s clear approval can only help their case.

The interview itself surprisingly not terrible for an example of a celebrity-on-celebrity interview done by a teenage girl with no experience who’s got the gig purely because of who her mother is.

Though it does raise a lot of questions given the girl’s managed to put a lot of things about herself in there deliberately or not. The section about dealing with famous and busy parents is an interesting inclusion given that both of them must have been aware that _both_ Gabriel and Audrey would read it.

The part where she asks Adrien about any girls in his life, and then basically confirms to the reader that _she_ knows who he’s trying to keep the identify of secret is pretty good, and Nathalie is all in favour of gossip about the Agrestes that’s clearly _not_ about her or Emilie, but she does wonder if it was _meant_ to sound like Chloé would totally date said girl if Adrien screwed it up.

She draws a line through the section where Lila Rossi is actually named as someone Adrien doesn’t like working with. Much as she dislikes her there’s no need to embarrass the girl now they’re not trying to create Akumas, and Adrien tries to backtrack on it immediately anyway. Besides Adrien isn’t going to be working with her anyway now given that he’s not really working now.

It might still something to raise with Gabriel to talk about with Adrien if he doesn’t raise it himself after reading this.

* * *

“I don’t like it.” He says to Nathalie. He _had_ said Adrien could have friends over when they were away, and back then it had seemed like a better idea than letting Adrien go _out_ where he could be doing anything but now he’s rapidly reconsidering it. He’s fairly certain Adrien wouldn’t throw a fit and expose them if he brought this to an end early.

Nathalie rests her head on his shoulder. “It’s only _one_ boy. You’ll cope.”

The music upstairs goes up a notch in volume, and they both wince.

“I’m not sure I will.” He says. “Why did it have to be _this_ boy?”

“I think we’re in our rights to ask them to turn the music down,” She says instead of answering his question, “That’s a thing that happens in normal families right? Adrien can’t take offence at us acting like a normal family.”

It makes him smile hearing her refer to them as a family. He wants that for them, and hearing that confirmation that they’re on the same page always makes him feel a little bit warmer. He doesn’t know how he got this lucky, to have someone who cares for Adrien too, who wants to make them _both_ happy.

“What are you smiling at?” She says, looking up at him.

“You.” He replies, leaning down to press a kiss to the end of her nose.

Despite everything they’ve done she still blushes. It’s cute. It makes him wake to kiss her again.

The music comes to a stop.

“See,” she says, “I told you it would be fine.”

“Pity.” He says, letting his arm trail up her side, “Just when I starting to think we could make use of the noise.”

“Gabriel!” She says looking around as if she expects Adrien any minute, “We’re supposed to be supervising them.”

She doesn’t make any move to dislodge his hold on her though and he’s fairly certain that if he moves his hand just so he can convince her, and just forget about what might be going on in the rest of this house.

“I thought you said they didn’t need _direct_ supervision.” He points out.

“I said I didn’t think Adrien would appreciate it, and anyway we should still be around.” She sounds more like she’s trying to convince herself than him, and that gives him the opening to push a little further.

When he kisses her she doesn’t pull away.

“Hi,” Adrien’s voice comes from the doorway making them both freeze, “Nino and I were,” his voice trails off when he realises what he’s walked in on. “You know what, we’ll come back later.”

“It’s fine.” He says despite it very much not being fine. “What did you want?”

Adrien’s hand awkwardly goes to the back of his neck. “Um, I wanted to ask if we could watch something in here? It’s a bigger screen than mine, but it’s fine, we can go back to my room.”

He looks at Nathalie. She shrugs.

“You can have it.” He says, standing up and tugging Nathalie with him.

“Thanks.” Adrien says, but he hovers awkwardly instead of sitting down. Meanwhile his friend’s just staring at them both.

He’s fairly certain that when they leave the room the boy whispers to Adrien, “Are you _sure_ they haven’t both been replaced by clones?”

It’s rather irritating to hear given how close he’d come to that actually happening, but he’s distracted from that by Nathalie saying, “I’m hoping that wasn’t some plan of your to stop any of Adrien’s friends ever turning up again by traumatising them.”

“Not everything I do is part of some nefarious plan.”

* * *

Nathalie looks between the two women facing her, “Is this some sort of intervention?”

“Not necessarily,” Stéphanie says as she pours her a glass of wine, “We’re just worried about you. Or Julie is. I think if you want to have some fun then go for it.”

Julie looks at Stéphanie in betrayal. “She _works_ for him. If this bit of fun ends she could lose her job.”

“I’m not worried about that.” She tells them. “And you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.”

Now Stéphanie looks concerned too, “Dating someone, or sleeping with someone, or whatever you’re doing with him should be more than fine.”

Nathalie almost wants to laugh. They’re seen the damp squibs that were her previous attempts at relationships. Gabriel on the other hand is phsycially incapable of being just fine. Terrible? Yes. Wonderful? Yes. Fine? No.

They’re both still looking worried at her, and she wants to point out that they don’t know anything about her. She hasn’t seen them in months. They’d not been in contact when she was nearly dying and now things are _finally_ turning out well suddenly they’re worried.

That’s unfair of her she knows. She hadn’t told them she was ill and there’s no way they could have known that. It’s not as if they usually manage to meet up more than once or twice a year. _This_ has been announced by the media and they almost couldn’t have _not_ known about it.

“It is.” She says instead of saying any of that. “I’m happy.”

The crease between Julie’s brows deepens, “ _Are_ you?”

“I am,” She finds herself starting to smile, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much I never expected any of what happened between us to happen,” that’s an understatement, “but it did, and we’re both very glad it did. By the way he wanted me to tell you that he’s no intention of breaking my heart.”

Julie looks just as sceptical at that as she’d told Gabriel she would be, frowning, “And his son’s alright with it?”

“Adrien? Trust me, he’s more than fine with it. He was ready for it to happen before Gabriel and I were.”

They’re looking at her oddly.

“What?”

“I’ve never heard you call him Gabriel before.”

“I can hardly keep calling him Mr Agreste now can I?”

“No, I suppose not.”

Stéphanie cocks her head, “So you don’t call him sir in bed then?”

“No I don’t call him sir in bed,” She snaps, “What sort of relationship do you think I’m in?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.” Julie says.

“How did it happen?” asks Stéphanie, “Too many late nights at the office, and you just tumbled into bed together at the end of one?”

That technically isn’t exactly wrong if you include supervillainy under the descriptor of at the office, but she knows Stéphanie well enough to know exactly what situation she’s actually implying and much as she might have fantasised about it it’s _not_ what happened.

“Gabriel’s not like that.” She defends him, “We’re grown close over the years, and then I was there for him when he lost Emilie, and he was there for me when I had a health scare a few months ago, and, our feelings deepened and then,”

She’s saved from having to think up an alternative scenario of how she and Gabriel confessed her feelings when they haven’t quite decided that yet by Julie interrupting, “Health scare? What health scare?”

“I was ill recently,” She gestures at them to calm down at their shocked faces, “but I’m fine now, we worked out the cause, and it’s all sorted out.”

It’s not a lie. The Peacock Miraculous is both fixed and hopefully as far away from her as it can still be while in Paris.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

She shrugs. She hadn’t seen much point. They barely saw each other anyway, and besides she hadn’t wanted anyone snooping around the cause of her illness. Or making judgements over how many nights she spent at the Agreste’s.

“There’s wasn’t anything you could have done.”

“But there were things _he_ could do?”

She waves it off. “That’s different. He was with me most of the time anyway, it’s not as if he could have _not_ known about it. And, he made it easy.” She admits. Too easy to keep putting herself through that really, even if he hadn’t really been able to make the pain go away. “He made sure I got the best possible medical care, and tried to cut down my work, and just looked after me.”

“You’re in love with him.” Julie said in shock.

“Don’t tell the whole restaurant.” She hissed. Gabriel knowing was one thing. The rest of the world knowing was another.

“Alright just, does he _know_? _”_ Julie whispered, “Is he even over his wife’s disappearance?”

“He knows.”

“You’ve _said it to him?_ Nathalie Sancoeur has actually said “I love you” to someone?” Stéphanie said leaning in.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve seen you date. You’ve never confessed that to a guy. And not the way _I_ didn’t because I was only looking for something casual.”

Julie and Nathalie shares a disapproving glance. They both remembered the joy of sharing a flat with Stéphanie’s idea going out and having fun. She assumes she’s settled down with marriage but it’s honestly hard to tell.

Stéphanie continues, “You could have said it, you just never found anyone convincing enough to commit to.”

She doesn’t like having herself put under a microscope like that, “I haven’t said in it so many words, but we’re talked about it, he knows.”

“And he?” Julie asks.

“Don’t worry.” She reassures her, “He knows Emilie isn’t coming back. I wasn’t going to let anything start if he didn’t.”

She had been worried about that, even though once he’d given up the Butterfly Miraculous there was nothing he could do about it, but now they’re back in the Paris and he’s seen Emilie and it doesn’t seem to have changed anything between them she’s much more confident. 

“That’s good to hear but that wasn’t what I meant.”

“Oh. You mean does he?” She can’t quite finish that sentence but Julie understands her and nods.

It wasn’t so long ago that she wasn’t convinced that whatever he might try to say the truth would actually be no, but right now, after everything he’s done and said and is going to say, “Yes,” she’s able to say, “Yes, I think he does.”

She’s not sure she’s quite convinced Julie that he _does_ rather than just Nathalie _thinking_ he does but the other woman says, “Then I’m happy for you. You deserve that.”

“So” Stéphanie raises her eyebrows theatrically, “Enough with the emotional stuff, how’s the _other_ side of things?”

Nathalie smirks and it’s only half performative, “Let’s just say I have no complaints.”

* * *

They’re eating dinner when Adrien drops the bombshell.

“Ladybug and I have been talking.” He says, “And since somebody _finally_ made that donation, we think we should let Paris know that Hawkmoth and Mayura are gone for good. It’s not fair for everybody except for the four of us to still be trying to suppress their emotions in fear of akumatisation.”

He and Nathalie look at each other, and he can see her deciding not to argue the point about how it took time to anonymise money. For his side he’d be quite happy for everything else to moderate their emotions but he’s certainly not going to say that.

Hawkmoth was _his_ quest not hers, so he guesses that it’s _his_ job to ask the next question, “What are you going to tell them?”

“We haven’t decided yet.” Adrien says, “Maybe what Ladybug thinks is the truth but without the details of how or when. Did you guys have any sort of preference?”

Nathalie stares at him, “I don’t think we’ve the right to any input on that. What you’re done for us already is enough Adrien. We trust you.”

Adrien shrugs, “That’s nice but we could honestly do with other people’s opinions and there aren’t many people Ladybug and I can ask about it.”

That seems like an understatement. Though he can’t help but share Nathalie’s feelings that they aren’t exactly very suitable people to ask. He’s spent much of his time ignoring what the world thinks of Hawkmoth, it’s an adjustment to consider it.

“If you’re going to admit to not having captured Hawkmoth and Mayura then a surrender might leave people more relaxed than you having just captured the two Miraculous. That way they’ll be less likely to fear them turning up with something else.”

“Yeah.” Adrien says, “You’ve got a point.”

“You know if the media gives you and Ladybug a hard time about it, I’m happy to lend you our lawyers.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.” Adrien says.

* * *

Gabriel still seems stressed when they go to bed that night. Oddly she _doesn’t._ It’s just feels like something that’s out of her control happening that there’s no point her worrying about, and she doesn’t know why she hasn’t reacted more.

It could be the fact that _she_ gets it confirmed everyday that Hawkmoth and Mayura are over now.

“Are you ok?” She asks him.

“I think so.” He says. “It’s just strange being reminded of it all. It seems so distant now.”

She lies down next to him. “Let’s keep it that way shall we?”

“That sounds good to me.” He agrees.

* * *

Adrien stands in front of him nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Why his son is so nervous he’s not sure, it’s not like he can do much more than refuse him whatever he’s going to ask. He isn’t going to pretend the house security system is up to containing Chat Noir’s powers if he did try to ground Adrien, and honestly since they’re got back to Paris he’s been surprised by how reluctant Adrien’s been to wield the blackmail he’s got over them.

“Spit it out.” He says 

“I want to invite Marinette to the after show party.”

He wants to smash his head against his screen. All of this was for _that?_

“You’d better hurry up then.” He says to Adrien who continues to look at him as if he honestly thought this was going to be an issue as if he hasn’t been trying to _help_ Adrien get better at all of this, “I’ll need to ensure your outfits co-ordinate.”

* * *

She owes Adrien a massive apology.

Photoshoots are terrible.

It never looked that bad from the outside.

Now she’s actually in one she can confidently say they are the worst.

The photographer keeps telling her to emote, and she’s plenty _emotional,_ but her default when at the other end of attention from strangers, and especially strangers with cameras flashing at her, is to look as neutral as possible.

In fairness she’s fairly certain she’s met the man before so technically he’s not exactly a stranger but at every call of his to do this, or look at Gabriel like that her defences come up further until it must look like she’s frozen her face with botox.

She’d agreed to an _interview,_ to get Audrey away from them and because she’d known they needed to take hold of the narrative. A photoshoot hadn’t been mentioned at all.

Much to her annoyance Gabriel had turned out to be no help in stopping it when she’d thought she could rely on her for that, given the only photos she’s ever seen him actually smiling in were at his wedding to Emilie, and some ones at the end of shows, and honestly some of those are more smirks. Apparently he’d thought it was _obvious_ they’d need at least one photo to accompany the article, and obvious she’d have to be in it.

That had annoyed her so much she’d agreed to have the shoot outside the house without asking him.

“Can neither of you smile?” The photographer calls out in despair, though she’d think he’d be used to that if he's photographing for fashion magazines.

“Can we have a break?” Gabriel calls out to the photographer who quickly acquiesces, clearly on the verge of giving up.

He strokes down the side of her arm, “You’re too tense.”

“Tell me about it. Whatever they get from this is going to look ridiculous, I'm not a model or an actress.”

“You’re pretty enough to be one.” 

“And you’re a flatterer Gabriel Agreste. You don't have to lie to me.”

“No I'm not. I’m just a man in love. I'm entitled to think you're the most beautiful woman in the room.”

Her lips must part slightly in shock, she hadn't expected him to just drop that into conversation.

“Well I suppose I can accept that.” She manages to say.

He cradles her face. “Just do this one photoshoot? For me? I can tell you hate it but it's almost done.”

“If you make them photoshop me perfect.” She can see what he's about to say before he does it, “and don't say I am already, we've established you're not an objective judge.”

“I can pass it on. They’ll do it anyway-I'm sure there might be some odd lighting effects or creases in the dress to fix, but I'm glad you know _I_ wouldn't change a thing about you.”

Looking into this eyes she can see he's telling the truth and that this isn't some empty flattery. She _wants_ to kiss him, but she's aware of all the eyes on them, and of how she’d have to get pulled back over to make-up, and frankly on being separated from Gabriel she thinks there's no chance of her getting back in front of the camera.

They’re both as startled by the camera flash as each other.

“Just keep looking at each other like that.” The photographer says.

* * *

The writer looks unhappy at the situation. “Well, I suppose Zoom calls are the future” She says and chuckles awkwardly.

He assumes Audrey didn’t hire her for her schmoozing ability.

Though he might be doing her something of a disservice. She has the sense at least to start asking questions about the collection before transitioning on to their relationship, “So, we big theme of this season for you is change and renewal, I think the question everyone wants to know is whether that was inspired by the changes in your personal life?”

He squeezes Nathalie’s hand in reassurance. _This_ sort of question he can deal with. He’s used to this sort of question.

“I think all my collections are affected by my life. Some people might be able to separate their creative output from themselves but I’ve never been one of them. I’m sure you can remember a few famous instances of that.”

The interviewer’s smile grows a little bit more fixed, “Yes, I think we all can.”

Nathalie leans in, “It’s ok, you can mention Emilie. I’m not going to be offended”

The women doesn’t look much more comfortable, “She’d be an obvious inspiration of course, and Adrien as well. Do you see yourself in this collection at all?”

“I don’t have Gabriel’s eye for that sort of thing.” She demurs, “In the colour-scheme maybe.”

Whatever she claims she’s not wrong. The colours _are_ part of her impact on this collection, and he says as much. He’s not in a mourning or muted mood any more, and strong colours suit Nathalie much more than the pastels and neutrals Emilie had loved.

* * *

As she lies down on the couch watching the film Adrien has chosen for the fortnightly movie night they’re instituted she muses that one nice thing about being with Gabriel is that they’re on the same page when it comes to their downtime.

Some people just seem to expect you to constantly talk, or entertain them but Gabriel, much as relaxing is anathema to him, is quite happy to just bask in her presence in silence the same way she is in hers.

Though he does also seem to delight in playing with her hair. Which she doesn’t really mind honestly, it’s kind of soothing, but she might have to make him brush it through later.

When Adrien heads to bed she rolls over to look at him, “You’re going to leave me with tangles you know.”

“No, I won’t.” He says, “I’m careful. Although I do miss your holiday hair.”

“My holiday hair?” She says in confusion. Obviously she had more casual hair then but she does take it out of her bun when she’s not working so she doesn’t really see his point.

“How much product do you _put_ in it to keep that bun in place? It’s all crunchy now.”

She sits up in disbelief, “ _You_ are saying that to _me_?”

He has the cheek to sound confused, “Yes?”

“You have seen your own hair right? It’s particularly shellacked into place. If either of us have room to complain it’s _me._ ”

She doesn’t mind how it looks, that’s just part of him, but it’s not exactly something you can run your fingers through, save for the shorter bits.

“It’s basically part of the brand now.” He says, “I suppose I’ll have to let you keep your bun then, if that’s the price of keeping mine.”

“It is.” She tells him.

* * *

Nathalie’s going through the write-up of interview for him, when she pauses and looks up, “Apparently you’re besotted with me.”

He can’t stop the frown forming on his face. “Give me that. I _am,_ but I never said that, are they making up quotes now?”

“No it’s in the write-up,” She turns it round so he can see, “Did you want me to tell them take it out?”

He looks it over. It fits in the flow of the article and besides it _is_ the truth. “Leave it. We don’t have exactly have any reason to object, do we my dear?”

Nathalie tilts her head smiling lopsidedly, “I suppose we don’t.”

* * *

“Hey, Nathalie?”

“Yes, Adrien?”

“So, um, my fencing class is having an exhibition match this weekend, and most people's parents come, and obviously you don't have to, I mean I can’t guarantee it'll be interesting but, um you could come? If you want? If father doesn’t need you for a work thing?”

She knows absolutely nothing about fencing and will probably be completely lost watching the matches and that is the least important thing about this whole offer. Adrien might not have meant it that way but he's bundled her in with his competitors’ parents and that's more than she could have hoped from him ever. She knows he likes somehow still despite Mayura but this is another level.

But that elation is dimmed by the fact that he still has one living actual parent and he's not asking _him._

Adrien shifts nervously as he waits for her response.

She forces herself to smile, “I’d love to come.”

Adrien lights up at her response.

“But shouldn't your father come too?”

Adrien’s face goes blank in a manner that reminiscent of, well her actually when she used to practise her carefully non-responsive professional face in the mirror when she was younger. It means she can't tell whether he'd want Gabriel there or if having his father watch him fight, even in a mock fight, feels a little too close to home.

“I didn't think he’d be interested.” He says.

“If you don't _want_ him to come I won't say anything.” She says carefully, “but he'll come up you do.”

Adrien maintains that same blank face but and when he finally speaks it's in an equally deliberately neutral tone that he hasn’t mastered making sound natural yet. “You can ask him then.”

* * *

Sat in the car he wants to ask why exactly he agreed to this but that’s only something he can say to Nathalie, not something he can say with Adrien right there.

When Adrien takes runs ahead of them he takes his chance, whisper to her, “It’s too late to back out now isn’t it?”

“You know it is.” She says taking his hand. “Come on. It’ll be fine.”

He braces himself but when they enter the viewing area though _she’s_ the one of tense. It throws him for a moment then he belatedly notices all the eyes on them.

“It’ll be fine” He says, “Just look aloof enough and they’ll leave you alone.”

She gives him a weak smile, “I think we can manage that.”

* * *

Nathalie reads over her explanatory email. Now Adrien’s dating Marinette, or per Gabriel is at least _basically_ there it seems sensible to allow the girl to view his schedule, to make it easier for her and Adrien to set things up.

It’s less busy these days with now photoshoots are off on the table for now, though she’s not sure that will actually be permanent. When she _had_ tried to apologise to Adrien for all the ones she’d brought her too he’d just looked at her blankly and said, “That was your job though? And they’re not _that_ bad usually. Just kind of boring.”

She’ll have to tighten it up when the new term starts at school. Maybe give them a designated slot to hang out. Though given that they _do_ have the whole day together at school surely they can’t need that much time outside it.

The fact that _she_ works with Gabriel all day, and has basically given up trying to go home each night to the extent that she’s started to think maybe she should give up the lease on her own apartment is no indication otherwise. They might be a little co-dependent but there’s no reason to think Adrien and Marinette are.

Besides she _has_ committed to doing more things in the evening now, now that she actually has the energy to do so. She _had_ missed the gym and her fitness classes, and she is _trying_ to stay in touch with people.

She’s sure Marinette has far more things to do in her evenings anyway. Adrien had mentioned she helped her parents out at the bakery sometimes, and that she did commissions for her friends, though she thinks he might have regretted bringing up that last one when Gabriel then made him show him every photo he had of anything she’d made or designed.

In other circumstances she might have intervened but she’d been frozen in terror that one of them might put it together about the scarf if the girl made other similar ones.

That reminds her. She needs to bribe Marinette to never ever bring that up.

She changes the invite and updates her email so Marinette can submit events for approval to the online schedule. That won’t be enough by hopefully it will help to put her view her positively.

At last minute she cc’s in the parental email listed on the class list.

* * *

Adrien arrives shortly after he summons him, “What did you want me for?”

His son looks around the bedroom in confusion, clocking the cardboard boxes behind him. “Are you redecorating?”

“In a way.” He says, “I’m thinking of packing away your mother’s things. I thought you might want to go through and see if there’s anything you wanted. Obviously most of her clothes will be archived so you don’t have to make that decision immediately but,” He shrugs.

He waits for Adrien’s condemnation. He’s accepted both his mother’s death, and Nathalie’s new place in his life shockingly well, if it hadn’t been for the revelation about Hawkmoth there almost wouldn’t have been any difficultly, but he’s aware this is taking things a step futher.

Instead Adrien nods, “That sounds sensible. Although,” his eyes catch on something behind him, “I think maybe you should just bin her make-up. I’m pretty sure that stuff goes off.”

“You’re probably right.” He agrees wondering if perhaps he should have tidied her dressing table up a little _before_ calling Adrien. Actually there’s probably quite a bit he should have edited out before calling Adrien. Well, it’s done now. He redirects Adrien’s attention, “Obviously all the jewellery’s yours.”

“Right, um, thank you I guess. Where should I start?”

He points Adrien to a box in the corner.

Fairly absorbed in going through her dresser before Adrien can he misses his son’s first remark of “Hey, what are these?”

His laughter later he does hear, “What have you found?” He asks in with some trepidation.

“Old photographs of Mom.” Adrien says holding them up, “It’s weird seeing print-outs of everyday ones instead of just like modelling shots or stuff.”

“We did have to print all photos then.” He points out, not that reassured. There’s plenty of his youth and even his early career and marriage he’d prefer Adrien _didn’t_ see.

“I haven’t seen you yet.” Adrien says.

With some relief he comes over to look at them, “Ah no. I think these are from before your mother and I had really met.”

Adrien’s nose wrinkles, “Then you won’t be able to tell me which ones her and which one’s Aunt Amélie?”

“Unfortunately not.” With some he says with some chagrin, “You’ll have to ask Amélie that.”

It had taken him far too long before he’d been able to distinguish between Emilie and her twin. In his defence it would have been far _easier_ if the two of them hadn’t thought it was hilarious to try and act like the other and trick him. It was even worse than when Adrien and Felix had done it years later.

* * *

Ah. Nathalie thinks when she meets finally meets Sabine Cheng in person. _That’s what a good mother looks like._

It’s not something she’s capable of she doesn’t think, but maybe in her more limited role in his life she can be enough for Adrien.

She watches over the cup of coffee they’d offered her as Sabine hurries Marinette into being ready to come back to the Agreste’s to get dressed up for and have her hair done for the party, trying to work out how she balances clear concern without being smothering.

“Sorry about Marinette.” Sabine says as the girl runs up to get something she’d forgotten, “Punctuality isn’t one of her strong points.

“That’s ok,” She says, “Adrien mentioned it, so I came a little earlier than I needed to.”

“You’re the one who sent us that schedule aren’t you?”

“That’s me.”

“He’s a busy boy.”

She shrugs. Honestly without the modelling it’s not that unusual for someone of his background. “Gabriel and Emilie wanted to give him every opportunity possible.”

“And you?” Sabine asks.

“ _Me?”_

Sabine looks slightly unsure, “Sorry, from what Adrien said I thought his father involved you in those sort of decisions these days?”

“I uh,” She stumbles, “I suppose he does. I just want Adrien to be happy.”

“That’s what we all want.”

“What exactly did Adrien say?” She says intrigued despite herself. She’s love to have an external view of how things are going with him.

“I think I should probably keep that to myself for now, but he’s very fond of you know.”

A clattering sound announces Marinette’s re-entrance. “I am actually ready this time.”

“Don’t worry,” She says to Sabine, “We’ll make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

* * *

He’s halfway about to decide that they don’t need him there after all when Nathalie arrives beside him and takes his hand. “It’s _Gabriel’s_ party. You have to go. You got through the show, you get can get through this.”

When he turns to argue with her that it’s not the same thing at all, he _has_ to do the show, and he’s in command there, while this he’s skipped before in Emilie’s absence, and here people expect him to actually socialise, the words dry up in his mouth. 

He’d seen the dress on her before when they were fitting it but not with her hair and make-eye done like this and she’s never looked more beautiful than she does tonight, and it would be a waste not to give her the stage she deserves.

She blushes, and consciously tries to straighten the skirt of her dress. “Are you sure it’s not a bit much?”

“It’s perfect. _You’re_ perfect.”

Purple looks better on her than it ever did on him.

She smiles but still looks embarrassed. He needs to fix that someday.

“Where are the children?” He asks.

“Adrien’s enlisted Marinette to do his tie.”

“Adrien knows how to do a tie.” He says. He didn’t think Adrien had in him to pull that type of trick.

Nathalie looks amused. “Yes. I didn’t point that out to them.”

The two teenagers eventually make their appearance, and really it’s a sign of how impressive Marinette’s abilities are that he doesn’t even really begrudge the fact she’s wearing a dress of her own design rather than his. Not much anyway.

He understands the need to build a brand reputation but given that he’s just realised that even though Adrien doesn’t want to do modelling _shoots_ any more he’s still unofficially modelling on his Instagram it seems unfair that Adrien has a girlfriend who might also pop up there and he can’t dress her too.

Though it’s not as if she can have time to make all her clothes while she’s at school. Maybe there’s a chance for giving her casual wear.

He’s looking over her pink tulle dress, when his eyes catch the bracelet she’s wearing.

A very familiar bracelet.

Nathalie picks up on it a second later from how she tenses but there’s no time to talk about it with the kids heading towards them.

The first chance he gets once they’ve got there and sent Adrien off on his own meeting and greeting tour, and got through their own first set of introductions he asks Nathalie, “Is she wearing?” Gabriel starts.

“Don’t think about it.” She cuts him off. “We don’t want to know.”

“It could be a coincidence.” He agrees. “Let’s not think about it.”

He can’t stop it thinking about it though. It’s possible. It’s very possible. Marinette’s the same height, build, colouring, _everything,_ as Ladybug. She’d _been in Cannes the day Ladybug appeared._ If Adrien had just discovered she was Ladybug it would explain the awkwardness of that lunch afterwards with them unknowingly sat across from the very Miraculouses they’d given up. “It would make so much sense though.”

“Or maybe Adrien just gave it to her because he chose her over Ladybug.” 

That is possible too. After all Adrien _could_ talk to Ladybug so it wouldn’t explain the mess he became in front of Marinette. Surely too if he’s known both girls were one then they’d have got together sooner.

On the other hand his mind can’t stop racing through what it means if she is Ladybug. That would mean his son _was_ dating Ladybug after all. Though it doesn’t explain if she knows who they are, and agreed to keep it quiet for Adrien’s sake, or if Adrien’s kept her in the dark. She certainly doesn’t seem to _treat_ them like they’re her erstwhile enemies.

He can’t just do nothing, “It wouldn’t be any harm to try to sweeten her up with an internship though would it?”

Nathalie agrees. “That can only benefit us.” 

* * *

Gabriel’s hands actually do a fairly good job at blocking out the light from her eyes whenever she opens them but she’s certain they’re still on the same floor of the house.

“Where are you taking me?”

“We’re almost there, take a few more steps forward.”

He takes his hand away. They’re in the master bedroom she can recognise that.

Except it’s not as if she’s ever seen it before.

Emilie’s photo has been taken down off the wall, and the walls are painted white. 

As she wanders in to look further she can see the walk-in wardrobe is empty, and though the standalone ones in the bedroom itself as shut, assumedly full with Gabriel’s clothes, the chest of drawers on one side of the bed is empty too.

No wonder Gabriel’s been sleeping in her room.

“I thought we could re-decorate together.” He says, but his attempt at confidence doesn’t fully hide the uncertainty in his voice. “If you wanted to. Of course we can stay in your room if you prefer, but this _is_ bigger and,”

“Gabriel.” She cuts him off, “We can re-decorate together. It’ll be fun.”

It’s a step certainly, and an admittance that she’s not just staying here temporarily but she’s _ready_ for that, and it seems a shame to leave this room a shrine when they already have multiple ones of those in his house.

“Good.” He says. “That’s good.”

“Where’s Emilie’s photo gone?”

“Adrien has it. He helped me go through her things.”

“That’s what the two of you have been doing in secret.” She realises. “That’s a relief. Did it help the two of you at all?”

“I think so.” He says, “Though it’s hard to tell. I must say I think he’s lost some respect for me, apparently ‘It was the 90s’ wasn’t a sufficient explanations for some of the things he found.”

She considers what she’s seen of Adrien, and of Adrien and Gabriel recently, “I can’t say I’ve noticed that. I think maybe he’s just seeing you more as a person now, rather than some removed authority figure.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

She reaches up to entwine her arms round his neck, “I think so. You wanted a closer relationship with him. This is the start of what it looks like.”

Lean down so their foreheads are also touching, “That’s not all I wanted.”

Her nerves still tighten her throat but this seems as good a time as she’s going to get, “You know I love you.”

“I do,” He agrees, “and I hope you know I love you too, but its different hearing you say it.”

He’s right. It _is_ different hearing those exact words for all that he’s said in it so many other ways.

She tilts her head up, and he tilts his down but unfortunately their glasses catch on each other. Letting go of him for a second she pulls hers off in annoyance chucks them away, and does the same with his.

“ _Nathalie_. You could have broken them.”

“What? You didn’t mind me doing it as Mayura.”

“Never mind. I retract my complaint. Let’s get back to where we were.” He says, leaning back down, and returning to where they’d left off.

She has her doubts about how much planning they’re going to get done about this room today, but she can’t really bring herself to care, when everything she’s ever wanted is finally falling into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done....finally
> 
> (are there still lots of loose ends? yes. am I writing them? no.)


End file.
